NGL Energy Partners (NGL) 10-K2024 FY Annual report

This Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”) contains various forward-looking statements and information that are based on NGL Energy Partners LP’s (“we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Partnership”) beliefs and those of our general partner (“GP”), as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to us. These forward-looking statements are identified as any statement that does not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Certain words in this Annual Report such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” and similar expressions and statements regarding our plans and objectives for future operations, identify forward-looking statements. Although we and our GP believe such forward-looking statements are reasonable, neither we nor our GP can assure they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may vary materially from those expected. Among the key risk factors that may affect our consolidated financial position and results of operations are:

You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report. Except as may be required by state and federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. When considering forward-looking statements, please review the risks discussed under Part I, Item 1A–“Risk Factors.”

We are a diversified midstream energy partnership that transports, treats, recycles and disposes of produced and flowback water generated as part of the energy production process as well as transports, stores, markets and provides other logistics services for crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons. Originally formed in September 2010, we are a Delaware master limited partnership and our business is currently organized into the following three segments:

Over the past several years, we have undertaken a number of important strategic actions in an effort to leverage the Partnership’s core areas of competitive strength and focus on generating stable, growing and predictable cash flows, while improving our credit profile. We believe our actions have substantially simplified our business mix and have allowed us to focus on what we believe are the core areas of our business and improved our overall financial position. These actions are expected to position us for sustained growth in the future.

On February 2, 2024, we closed a debt refinancing transaction of $2.9 billion. The refinancing consisted of a private offering of $2.2 billion of senior secured notes, which includes $900.0 million of 8.125% senior secured notes due 2029 (“2029 Senior Secured Notes”) and $1.3 billion of 8.375% senior secured notes due 2032 (“2032 Senior Secured Notes”). We also entered into a new seven-year $700.0 million senior secured term loan “B” credit facility (“Term Loan B”).

In addition, in connection with the closing of the refinancing, our $600.0 million asset-based revolving credit facility (“ABL Facility”) was amended to extend the maturity and to make certain other changes to the terms thereof. No changes were made to the aggregate amount of commitments under the ABL Facility.

For additional information related to the 2029 Senior Secured Notes, 2032 Senior Secured Notes, Term Loan B and ABL Facility, see Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report.

The following map shows the primary service areas of our businesses at March 31, 2024:

The following chart provides a summarized overview of our legal entity structure at March 31, 2024:

Our principal business objectives are to maximize the profitability and stability of our businesses, grow our businesses in an accretive and prudent manner, and maintain a strong balance sheet. We intend to accomplish these business objectives by executing the following strategies:

We believe that we are well positioned to successfully execute our business strategies and achieve our principal business objectives because of the following competitive strengths:

We operate in a number of the most prolific crude oil and natural gas producing areas in the United States including the Delaware Basin in New Mexico and Texas, the DJ Basin in Colorado and the Eagle Ford Basin in Texas. With a system that handled approximately 884.6 million barrels of produced water across its areas of operation during the year ended March 31, 2024, we believe that we are the largest independent produced water transportation and disposal company in the United States. We currently have approximately 664,000 acres dedicated to our system under long-term agreements in the Northern Delaware Basin. In addition, we have several minimum volume commitments and other commercial agreements covering the Delaware, DJ and Eagle Ford Basins. Our focus in building our Water Solutions business has been to secure long-term, fixed fee contracts that contain minimum volume commitments, acreage dedications or similarly strong contractual relationships with large, well-capitalized producer customers.

Our core asset in the Water Solutions segment is our system located in the Northern Delaware Basin, where we own and operate the largest integrated network of large diameter produced water pipelines, recycling facilities and disposal wells. This system spans six counties in New Mexico and Texas that represent one of the most prolific crude oil producing regions in the United States with some of the most economic hydrocarbon resources and lowest break-even economics for producers. Our system has over 750 miles of newly-built, in-service large diameter produced water pipelines connected to 56 active saltwater disposal facilities and 127 active disposal wells. We currently have approximately 664,000 acres dedicated to the Northern Delaware system providing a multi-decade drilling inventory and significant growth opportunity.

As part of our operations, we also recycle water, which includes the sale of produced water and recycled water for use in our customers’ completion activities. During the year ended March 31, 2024, we sold approximately 30.8 million barrels of recycled water.

We own the land on which 39 of the 89 water treatment and disposal facilities are located and we either have easements or lease the land on which the remaining water treatment and disposal facilities are located.

On March 31, 2023, we sold certain saltwater disposal assets in the Midland Basin (see Note 17 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report).

On July 25, 2023, we entered into an agreement in which we terminated a minimum volume water disposal contract and sold certain saltwater disposal assets and intangible assets in the Pinedale Anticline Basin (see Note 17 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report).

On April 5, 2024, we sold approximately 122,250 acres of real estate on two ranches located in Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico (see Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report). In addition, the assets and liabilities related to these ranches have been classified as held for sale within our March 31, 2024 consolidated balance sheet (see Note 17 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report).

Our customers bring produced and flowback water generated by crude oil and natural gas exploration and production operations to our facilities for treatment through pipeline gathering systems and by truck. During the year ended March 31, 2024, in the Delaware Basin, we received approximately 98% of produced and flowback water via pipelines. Once we take delivery of the water, the level of processing is determined by the ultimate disposition of the water.

Our facilities dispose of produced water primarily into deep underground formations via injection wells. At our disposal facilities, we use proprietary well maintenance programs to enhance injection rates and extend the service lives of the wells.

Our foundational asset in this segment is the Grand Mesa Pipeline, a 550-mile pipeline that transports crude oil from its origin in Weld County, Colorado to our terminal in Cushing, Oklahoma. The Grand Mesa Pipeline commenced operations on November 1, 2016 and has operated continuously since then. The main line portion of this pipeline is comprised of an undivided interest with Saddlehorn Pipeline Company, LLC (“Saddlehorn”) in which we have ownership of 150,000 barrels per day of capacity of the pipeline. During the year ended March 31, 2024, approximately 25.6 million barrels of crude oil were transported on the Grand Mesa Pipeline. Operating costs associated with the Grand Mesa Pipeline are allocated to us based on our proportionate ownership interest and throughput. We also own and operate origin terminals at Lucerne and Riverside, Colorado, where we aggregate crude oil volumes of different types and grades and store them until they are ready for transfer to the Grand Mesa Pipeline. The Lucerne terminal has 950,000 barrels of storage and a 12 bay truck loading facility. The Riverside terminal has 20,000 barrels of storage and a four bay truck loading facility.

Through our ownership in the Grand Mesa Pipeline, we have sufficient capacity to service our customer contracts at the same origin and termination points with the ability to accept additional volume commitments. We retained ownership of our previously acquired easements for the potential future development of transportation projects involving petroleum commodities other than crude oil and condensate. With the consent and participation of Saddlehorn, we and Saddlehorn may consider future opportunities using these easements, to the extent such easements remain in effect, for projects involving the transportation of crude oil and condensate. On December 6, 2023, we announced an open season for the Grand Mesa Pipeline. This open season ended at the close of business on January 5, 2024, and resulted in a new shipper with a five-year minimum volume commitment contract commencing on January 6, 2024.

We own and operate a large scale crude oil terminal located in Cushing, Oklahoma with 3,626,000 barrels of storage capacity, seven off-loading lease automatic custody transfer units (“LACTs”), a full control room, on-site quality management building, and three 24-inch bi-directional pipelines each capable of moving 360,000 barrels per day. The terminal features advantaged connectivity to other terminals and pipelines including important connections to the Grand Mesa Pipeline and to TC Energy’s terminal with access to the United States Gulf Coast via Marketlink. Our terminal is situated on 200 acres and is designed to be expanded based on customer demand. Cushing is one of the most liquid crude oil trading hubs in the world and is the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate futures contracts.

We own and operate a crude oil marine terminal in Point Comfort, Texas with 355,000 barrels of storage capacity and six off-loading LACTs. Our tanks connect to three docks at the port (two for ocean-going barges and ships and one for inland barges).

We own and operate a crude oil pipeline and marine terminal in Houma, Louisiana with 288,000 barrels of storage capacity, two off-loading LACTs, a brown water barge dock and two 12-inch bi-directional pipelines each capable of moving 120,000 barrels per day with connectivity to Shell’s Zydeco System.

We currently transport crude oil using the following assets:

We are in the process of requalifying our 396 owned railcars to be compliant with the standards for railcars for the commodities they are transporting. As of March 31, 2024, 130 railcars have been requalified (see “–Government Regulation”).

We also own 27 strategically located pipeline injection stations, the locations of which are summarized below.

On March 30, 2023, we sold our marine assets (see Note 17 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report).

Our profitability is impacted by forward crude oil prices. Crude oil markets can either be in contango (a condition in which forward crude oil prices are higher than spot prices) or can be in backwardation (a condition in which forward crude oil prices are lower than spot prices). Our Crude Oil Logistics segment benefits when the market is in contango, as increasing

A portion of our wholesale propane gallons are presold to third-party retailers and wholesalers at a fixed price under back-to-back contracts. Back-to-back contracts, in which we balance our contractual portfolio by buying physical propane supply or derivatives when we have a matching purchase commitment from our wholesale customers, protect our margins and mitigate commodity price risk. Presales also reduce the impact of warm weather because the customer is required to take delivery of the propane regardless of the weather or any other factors. We generally require cash deposits from these customers. In addition, on a daily basis we have the ability to balance our inventory by buying or selling propane, butanes, and natural gasoline to refiners, resellers, and propane producers through pipeline inventory transfers at major storage hubs.

In order to secure consistent supply during the heating season, we are often required to purchase volumes of propane during the entire fiscal year. In order to mitigate storage costs and price risk, we may sell those volumes at a lesser margin in lower demand months than we earn in our other wholesale operations.

We purchase butane from refiners during the summer months, when refiners have a greater butane supply than they need, and sell butane to refiners during the winter blending season, when demand for butane is higher. We utilize a portion of our railcar fleet and a portion of our leased underground storage to store butane for this purpose. We also transport customer-owned natural gas liquids on our leased railcars and charge the customers a transportation service fee as well as sublease railcars to certain customers. Our owned and leased terminals and railcar fleet give us the opportunity to access markets throughout the United States, and to move product to locations where demand is highest. We provide transportation, storage, and throughput services to third parties at our facilities in Port Hudson, Louisiana, Chesapeake, Virginia and Shelton, Washington.

We purchase refined petroleum and renewable products primarily in the Gulf Coast, West Coast and Midwest regions of the United States and schedule them for delivery at various locations throughout the country. We conduct just-in-time sales at a nationwide network of terminals owned by third parties via rack spot sales or delivered sales that do not involve continuing contractual obligations to purchase or deliver product. Rack spot sales are priced and delivered on a daily basis through truck loading racks. At the end of each day for each of the terminals that we market from, we establish the next day selling price for each product for each of our delivery locations. We announce or “post” to customers via website, e-mail, and telephone communications the rack spot sale price of various products for the following morning. When customers decide to purchase product from us, we purchase the same volume of product from a supplier at a previously agreed-upon price. For these just-in-time transactions, our purchase from the supplier occurs at the same time as our sale to our customer. Typical rack spot sale purchasers include commercial and industrial end users, independent retailers and small, independent marketers who resell

The following table summarizes the location of our facilities and respective storage capacity and interconnects to those facilities.

During the year ended March 31, 2024, we sold three natural gas liquids terminals (see Note 17 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report).

We own the land on which 15 of the 23 natural gas liquids terminals are located and we either have easements or lease the land on which the remaining terminals are located.

We own a natural gas liquids terminal that supports refined products blending in Port Hudson, Louisiana, and a marine export/import terminal in Chesapeake, Virginia. The Port Hudson terminal is located near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is in proximity to other refined products infrastructure along the Colonial pipeline. This truck unloading and storage facility allows for the aggregation and supply of butane and naphtha for motor fuel blending and consists of storage tanks with a total capacity of 720,000 gallons. The Chesapeake facility is a marine export/import terminal situated upstream of Norfolk, Virginia on the Elizabeth River. The site includes a proprietary dock with the capacity to berth handy-sized vessels (a dry bulk carrier of an oil tanker with a capacity between 15,000 and 35,000 dead weight tonnage) to very large gas carriers (a carrier capable of loading anywhere between 100,000 cubic meters to 200,000 cubic meters of natural gas), truck loading and off-road racks along with 22 railcar spots, with service provided by Norfolk Southern Railroad. The facility has an aggregate storage capacity of 20,408,000 gallons.

We own 28 transloading units, which enable customers to transfer product from railcars to trucks. These transloading units can be moved to locations along a railroad where it is most convenient for customers to transfer their product.

We own the Ambassador Pipeline, an approximately 225-mile propane pipeline, which runs from the Kalkaska gas plant in Kalkaska County, Michigan to a termination point near Marysville in St. Clair County, Michigan. The Wheeler propane terminal, in central Michigan, is located at the mid-point of the pipeline. These assets complement our existing assets in the upper Midwest and will expand our presence in Michigan, one of the top propane markets in the United States.

We utilize a fleet of approximately 4,300 high-pressure and general purpose leased railcars of which 295 railcars are subleased by third parties.

We lease storage space to accommodate the supply requirements and contractual needs of our retail and wholesale customers.

The following table summarizes our significant leased storage space at natural gas liquids and refined products storage facilities and interconnects to those facilities:

The demand for gasoline typically peaks during the summer driving season, which extends from April to September, and declines during the fall and winter months. However, the demand for diesel typically peaks during the fall and winter months due to colder temperatures, and peaks in the Midwest during spring planting and fall harvest.

We use back-to-back contracts for many of our liquids business sales to limit commodity price exposure and protect our margins. We are able to match our supply and sales commitments by offering our customers purchase contracts with flexible price, location, storage, and ratable delivery. However, certain common carrier pipelines require us to keep minimum in-line inventory balances year round to conduct our daily business, and these volumes are not matched with a sales commitment.

We generally require deposits from our customers for fixed price future delivery if the delivery date is more than 30 days after the time of contractual agreement.

At March 31, 2024, we had 607 employees in 27 states and Canada. Of those employees, 226 provide work primarily for our Water Solutions segment, 58 provide work primarily for our Crude Oil Logistics segment, 151 provide work primarily for our Liquids Logistics segment, and 172 provide administrative services to the various business segments. NGL is an equal-opportunity employer, and our employee handbook underscores that commitment, with policies prohibiting discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

We understand the importance of competitive benefits packages for the health and welfare of our employees and for our ability to recruit and retain the best talent. In that regard, at the end of fiscal year 2021, we implemented $20 per hour minimum wage for all regular, full-time employees. More than 95% of our eligible employees participated in the NGL 401(k) Plan in fiscal year 2024. As of January 1, 2023, we shortened the NGL 401(k) eligibility period from the first day after six months of employment to the first day of the month after three months of employment. In addition, we provide access to a traditional PPO or a high-deductible medical plan including a health savings account with employer contributions; a flexible spending account option for those not enrolled in the high-deductible medical plan; a dental plan; a vision plan; an Employee Assistance Plan including free counseling for employees and members of their household; company-paid short-term disability coverage; voluntary long-term disability coverage; company-paid life and AD&D coverage; and voluntary life and AD&D coverage options for employees and their family members.

Our operations are guided by specific health and safety protocols. We endeavor to conduct our business in a manner that meets or exceeds applicable health and safety regulations and minimizes risk, both to our employees and the communities where we operate. Our environmental, health and safety team:

As part of this effort, we have implemented an enterprise management information system designed to help us achieve a better understanding of our performance, identify root causes of incidents, and where appropriate, implement necessary mitigations.

Exploration and production operations and water disposal facilities are subject to various types of federal, state and local regulation, including, but not limited to, permitting, well location, methods of drilling, well operations, and conservation of resources. These regulations may affect our businesses and the businesses of certain of our customers and suppliers. It is not possible to predict how or when regulations affecting our operations or our customers’ or suppliers’ operations might change.

Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may trigger a variety of administrative, civil, and criminal enforcement measures, including the assessment of monetary penalties. Certain environmental statutes impose strict and/or joint and several liability for costs required to clean up and restore sites where substances such as crude oil or wastes have been disposed or otherwise released. The trend in environmental regulation is to place more restrictions and limitations on activities that may adversely affect human health and the environment and to commit greater financial and other resources to inspection, compliance and enforcement activities. Thus, there can be no assurance as to the amount or timing of future expenditures for environmental compliance or remediation, and actual future expenditures may be different from the amounts we currently anticipate.

The following is a discussion of the material environmental laws and regulations that relate to our businesses.

CERCLA, also known as the “Superfund” law, and similar state laws, impose liability on certain classes of potentially responsible persons that are considered to have contributed to the release of a “hazardous substance” into the environment. These persons include the current and past owner or operator of the site where the release occurred and anyone who disposed or arranged for the disposal of a hazardous substance released at the site. While natural gas liquids are not a hazardous substance within the meaning of CERCLA, other chemicals used in or generated by our operations may be classified as a hazardous substance. Persons who are or were liable for releases of hazardous substances under CERCLA may be subject to strict and/or joint and several liability for the costs of investigating and cleaning up the hazardous substances that have been released into the environment and for damages to natural resources and for the costs of certain health studies. It is not uncommon for neighboring landowners and other third parties to file claims for personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by the release of hazardous substances into the environment.

RCRA, and comparable state statutes and their implementing regulations, regulate the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, disposal and cleanup of solid and hazardous wastes. Under a delegation of authority from the EPA, most states administer some or all of the provisions of RCRA, sometimes in conjunction with their own, more stringent requirements. Federal and state regulatory agencies can seek to impose administrative, civil and criminal penalties for alleged non-compliance with RCRA and analogous state requirements. Certain wastes associated with the production of oil and natural gas, as well as certain types of petroleum-contaminated media and debris, are excluded from regulation as hazardous waste under Subtitle C of RCRA. These wastes, instead, are regulated as solid waste under RCRA’s less stringent Subtitle D, state laws or other federal laws. It is possible, however, that certain wastes now classified as non-hazardous solid waste could be classified as hazardous wastes in the future and thereby be subject to more rigorous and costly disposal requirements. Legislation has been proposed from time to time in Congress to regulate certain oil and natural gas wastes as “hazardous wastes under RCRA.” Any such change could result in an increase in our costs to manage and dispose of wastes, which could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations and financial position.

Wastes containing naturally occurring radioactive materials (“NORM”) may also be generated in connection with our operations. Certain processes used to produce oil and gas may enhance the radioactivity of NORM, which may be present in oilfield wastes. NORM is subject primarily to individual state radiation control regulations. Texas and New Mexico have both enacted regulations governing the handling, treatment, storage and disposal of NORM. In addition, NORM handling and management activities are governed by regulations promulgated by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”). These state and OSHA regulations impose certain requirements concerning worker protection, the treatment, storage and disposal of NORM waste, the management of waste piles, containers and tanks containing NORM, as well as restrictions on the uses of land with NORM contamination.

We currently own or lease properties where crude oil is being or has been handled for many years. Although previous operators have utilized operating and disposal practices that were standard in the industry at the time, crude oil or other wastes may have been disposed of or released on or under the properties owned or leased by us or on or under the other locations where the crude oil and wastes have been transported for treatment or disposal. These properties and the wastes disposed or released thereon may be subject to CERCLA, RCRA and analogous state laws. Under these laws, we could be required to remove or remediate previously disposed wastes (including wastes disposed of or released by prior owners or operators), to clean up contaminated property (including contaminated groundwater) or to implement remedial measures to prevent or mitigate future contamination. We are not currently aware of any facts, events or conditions relating to such requirements that could materially impact our consolidated results of operations or financial position.

Under the auspices of the federal UIC program as implemented by states with UIC primacy, regulators, particularly at the state level, are becoming increasingly sensitive to possible correlations between underground injection and seismic activity. Consequently, state regulators implementing both the federal UIC program and state corollaries are heavily scrutinizing the location of injection facilities relative to faulting and are limiting both the density or injection facilities as well as the rate and volume of injection.

There is a growing concern, both nationally and internationally, about climate change and the contribution of greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions, most notably methane and carbon dioxide, to climate change. This growing concern has resulted in a steady stream of legislation considered by Congress to address climate change through a variety of mechanisms, including carbon taxes and carbon cap-and-trade programs. For example, in February 2021, the Climate Emergency Act of 2021 was introduced in the House of Representative by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) as H.R. 795 and in the Senate by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), which would require the President of the United States to declare a national climate emergency and take various actions to address climate change. The ultimate outcome of any possible future federal legislative initiatives is uncertain. In addition, several states have already adopted legal measures to reduce emissions of GHGs, primarily through the planned development of GHG emission inventories and/or regional GHG cap-and-trade programs. For example, on October 7, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsome signed SB 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, and SB 261, the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act. These two bills apply to companies doing business in California and require disclosure of, amongst certain other climate-related financial risk information, scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, beginning in 2026 (on prior fiscal year information), and scope 3 GHG emissions, beginning in 2027 (on prior fiscal year information).

Some scientists have suggested climate change could increase the severity of extreme weather, such as increased hurricanes and floods, which could damage our facilities. Another possible consequence of climate change is increased volatility in seasonal temperatures. The market for our natural gas liquids is generally improved by periods of colder weather and impaired by periods of warmer weather, so any changes in climate could affect the market for our products and services. If there is an overall trend of warmer temperatures, it would be expected to have an adverse effect on our business.

Because propane is considered a clean alternative fuel under the CAA, new climate change regulations may provide us with a competitive advantage over other sources of energy, such as fuel oil and coal.

The trend of more expansive and stringent environmental legislation and regulations, including GHG regulation and regulations relating to climate change, could continue, resulting in increased costs of conducting business and consequently affecting our profitability. To the extent laws are enacted or other governmental action is taken that restricts certain aspects of our business or imposes more stringent and costly operating, waste handling, disposal and cleanup requirements, our business and prospects could be adversely affected.

All states in which we operate have adopted fire safety codes that regulate the storage and distribution of propane and distillates. In some states, state agencies administer these laws, while in other states, municipalities administer these laws. We conduct training programs to help ensure that our operations comply with applicable governmental regulations. With respect to general operations, each state in which we operate adopts National Fire Protection Association, Pamphlet Nos. 54 and 58, or comparable regulations, which establish rules and procedures governing the safe handling of propane, and Pamphlet Nos. 30, 30A, 31, 385, and 395 which establish rules and procedures governing the safe handling of distillates, such as fuel oil. We believe that the policies and procedures currently in effect at all of our facilities for the handling, storage and distribution of propane and distillates and related service and installation operations are consistent with industry standards and are in compliance in all material respects with applicable environmental, health and safety laws.

With respect to the transportation of propane, distillates, crude oil, and water, we are subject to regulations promulgated under federal legislation, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Regulations under these statutes cover the security and transportation of hazardous materials and are administered by the United States Department of Transportation (“DOT”). Specifically, crude oil pipelines are subject to regulation by the DOT, through the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”), under the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 (“HLPSA”), which requires the PHMSA to develop, prescribe, and enforce minimum federal safety standards for the storage and transportation of hazardous liquids and comparable state statutes with respect to design, installation, testing, construction, operation, replacement and management of pipeline facilities. HLPSA covers petroleum and petroleum products and requires any entity that owns or operates pipeline facilities to comply with such regulations, to permit access to and copying of records and to file certain reports and provide information as required by the United States Secretary of Transportation. These regulations include potential fines and penalties for violations.

The Pipeline Safety Act of 1992 added the environment to the list of statutory factors that must be considered in establishing safety standards for hazardous liquid pipelines, established safety standards for certain “regulated gathering lines,” and mandated that regulations be issued to establish criteria for operators to use in identifying and inspecting pipelines located in high consequence areas (“HCAs”), defined as those areas that are unusually sensitive to environmental damage, that cross a navigable waterway, or that have a high population density. In the Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Enforcement, and Safety Act of 2006, Congress required mandatory inspections for certain United States crude oil and natural gas transmission pipelines in HCAs and mandated that regulations be issued for low-stress hazardous liquid pipelines and pipeline control room management. In January 2012, the federal government passed the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 (“2011 Pipeline Safety Act”). This act provides for additional regulatory oversight of the nation’s pipelines, increases the penalties for violations of pipeline safety rules, and complements the DOT’s other initiatives. The 2011 Pipeline Safety Act increased the maximum fine for the most serious pipeline safety violations involving deaths, injuries or major environmental harm from $1 million to $2 million. In addition, this law established additional safety requirements for newly constructed pipelines. The law also provides for (i) additional pipeline damage prevention measures; (ii) allowing the Secretary of

We transport a significant portion of our natural gas liquids and biodiesel via rail transportation, and we own and/or lease a fleet of crude oil, high-pressure and general purpose railcars for this purpose. Our railcar operations are subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the Federal Railroad Administration of the DOT, as well as other federal and state regulatory agencies.

The adoption of additional federal, state or local laws or regulations, including any voluntary measures by the rail industry regarding railcar design or transport activities, or efforts by local communities to restrict or limit rail traffic, could similarly affect our business by increasing compliance costs and decreasing demand for our services, which could adversely affect our financial position and cash flows.

The workplaces associated with our manufacturing, processing, terminal, disposal, storage and distribution facilities are subject to the requirements of OSHA and comparable state statutes. We believe we have conducted our operations in substantial compliance with OSHA requirements, including general industry standards, record keeping requirements and monitoring of occupational exposure to regulated substances. In general, we expect to increase our expenditures relating to compliance with likely higher industry and regulatory safety standards such as those described above. Although these expenditures cannot be accurately estimated at this time, we do not expect compliance with these standards to have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our website address is www.nglenergypartners.com. We make available on our website, free of charge, the periodic reports that we file with or furnish to the SEC, as well as all amendments to these reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are filed with or furnished to the SEC. The information contained on, or connected to, our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report and should not be considered part of this or any other report that we file with or furnish to the SEC.

In addition, the SEC maintains an internet site (www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information related to issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

The nature of our business activities subjects us to a wide variety of hazards and risks. The following is a summary and a description of the material risks relating to our business activities that we have identified. In addition to the factors discussed elsewhere in this Annual Report, you should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations, including our ability to generate cash to fund our operations, repay indebtedness and pay distributions. You should also consider the interrelationship and potential compounding effects if multiple risks are realized. These risks are not the only risks that we face. Our business could be impacted by additional risks and uncertainties not currently known or that we currently believe to be immaterial.

We may not have sufficient cash to enable us to fund our operations, repay indebtedness or pay distributions. The distribution to our common unitholders may only be made from cash available for distribution after the preferred quarterly distribution to which our Preferred Units are entitled. The amount of cash we will have to fund our operations, repay indebtedness or pay distributions principally depends on the amount of cash we generate from our operations, not profitability, which will fluctuate from quarter to quarter based on, among other things:

In addition, the actual amount of cash we will have available to fund our operations, repay indebtedness or pay distributions also depends on other factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:

The board of directors of our GP expects to evaluate the reinstatement of the common unit distributions in due course, taking into account a number of important factors, including our leverage, liquidity, the sustainability of cash flows, capital expenditures and the overall performance of our businesses. The quarterly common unit distributions were suspended with the quarter ended December 31, 2020.

At March 31, 2024, the face amount of our long-term debt was $2.9 billion. Our level of indebtedness could have important consequences to us, including the following:

Our ability to service our debt will depend on, among other things, our future financial and operating performance, which will be affected by prevailing economic and weather conditions, and financial, business, regulatory and other factors, some of which are beyond our control. If our operating results are not sufficient to service our future indebtedness, we would be forced to take actions such as reducing or delaying our business activities, acquisitions, investments or capital expenditures, selling assets or seeking additional equity capital. We may be unable to effect any of these actions on satisfactory terms or at all. The agreements governing our indebtedness permit us to incur additional debt under certain circumstances, and we may need to incur additional debt in order to implement our growth strategy. We may experience adverse consequences from increased levels of debt.

Our leverage could have important consequences to our debt obligations. We will require substantial cash flow to meet our principal and interest obligations with respect to our debt obligations. Our ability to make scheduled payments, to refinance our obligations with respect to our indebtedness or our ability to obtain additional financing in the future will depend on our financial and operating performance, which, in turn, is subject to prevailing economic conditions and to financial, business and other factors. We may not have sufficient cash flow from operations and available borrowings under the ABL Facility to service

The ABL Facility, Term Loan B and Indenture limit our ability to, among other things:

We will be permitted to make distributions to our unitholders once we meet certain defined metrics and as long as no default or event of default exists both immediately before and after giving effect to the declaration and payment of the distribution and the distribution does not exceed available cash for the applicable quarterly period.

The provisions of the ABL Facility, Term Loan B and Indenture may affect our ability to obtain future financing and pursue attractive business opportunities and our flexibility in planning for, and reacting to, changes in business conditions. In addition, a failure to comply with the provisions of these agreements could result in a default or an event of default that could enable our lenders, subject to the terms and conditions, to declare the outstanding principal of that debt, together with accrued and unpaid interest, to be immediately due and payable. If we were unable to repay the accelerated amounts, our lenders could proceed against the collateral we granted them to secure our debts under our 2029 Senior Secured Notes, 2032 Senior Secured Notes, ABL Facility and Term Loan B. If the payment of our debt is accelerated, defaults under our other debt instruments, if any then exist, may be triggered, and our assets may be insufficient to repay such debt in full, and our unitholders could experience a partial or total loss of their investment.

At any time on or after July 2, 2027, each Class D Preferred Unitholder will have the right to require the Partnership to redeem on a date not prior to the 180th day after July 2, 2027 all or a portion of the Class D Preferred Units then held by such preferred unitholder for the then-applicable redemption price, which may be paid in cash or, at the Partnership’s election, a combination of cash and a number of common units not to exceed one-half of the aggregate then-applicable redemption price, as more fully described in our Partnership Agreement. Furthermore, upon a Class D Change of Control (as defined in our Partnership Agreement), each Class D Preferred Unitholder will have the right to require the Partnership to redeem the Class D Preferred Units then held by such Preferred Unitholder at a price per Class D Preferred Unit equal to the applicable redemption price. We cannot assure you that we will have sufficient cash flow, liquidity or the ability to incur indebtedness or sell assets on terms that are commercially reasonable in order to redeem the Class D Preferred Units, even if required to do so. In addition, we may seek to address the outstanding balances on the Class D Preferred Units prior to when they are required to be redeemed, which may impact our ability to service our indebtedness.

Interest rates may increase in the future. As a result, interest rates on our existing and future credit facilities and debt offerings could be higher than current levels, causing our financing costs to increase accordingly. We also have exposure to increases in interest rates through variable rate provisions of our Class B Preferred Units, Class C Preferred Units and Class D Preferred Units. In addition, the distribution rates on our Class C Preferred Units converted from fixed rates to floating rates on April 15, 2024, while on or after July 1, 2024, the holders of our Class D Preferred Units can elect, from time to time, for the distributions to be calculated based on a floating rate. Our results of operations, cash flows and financial position could be materially adversely affected by significant changes in interest rates.

Moreover, the market price of our common units, like with other yield-oriented securities, may be impacted by our level of cash distributions and implied distribution yield. The distribution yield is often used by investors to compare and rank yield-oriented securities for investment decision-making purposes. Therefore, increases or decreases in interest rates may affect the yield requirements of investors who invest in our common units. A rising interest rate environment could have an adverse impact on our common unit price and our ability to issue equity or incur debt for acquisitions or other purposes and could affect our ability to make payments on our debt obligations and cash distributions at our intended levels.

While we seek to minimize our exposure to third-party losses of our cash and cash equivalents, we hold our balances in several large banking institutions. Notwithstanding such allocation, we are subject to the risk of bank failure. For example, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) was unable to continue its operations and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was appointed as receiver for SVB and created the National Bank of Santa Clara to hold the deposits of SVB. None of our cash and cash equivalents were held at SVB. However, if the banking institutions where we hold deposits were to experience a similar failure, we could experience additional risk. Any such loss or limitation on our cash and cash equivalents would adversely affect our business.

Our business depends on domestic spending by the oil and natural gas industry, and this spending and our business have been, and may continue to be, adversely affected by industry and financial market conditions and existing or new regulations, such as those related to environmental matters, which are beyond our control.

We depend on the ability and willingness of other entities to make operating and capital expenditures to explore for, develop, and produce crude oil and natural gas in the United States and Canada, and to extract natural gas liquids from natural gas, as well as the availability of necessary pipeline transportation and storage capacity. Customers’ expectations of lower market prices for crude oil and natural gas, as well as the availability of capital for operating and capital expenditures, may cause them to curtail spending, thereby reducing business opportunities and demand for our services and equipment. Actual market conditions and producers’ expectations of market conditions for crude oil and natural gas liquids may also cause producers to curtail spending, thereby reducing business opportunities and demand for our services.

Industry conditions are influenced by numerous factors over which we have no control, such as the availability of commercially viable geographic areas in which to explore and produce crude oil and natural gas, the availability of liquids-rich natural gas needed to produce natural gas liquids, the supply of and demand for crude oil and natural gas, environmental restrictions on the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, such as existing and proposed regulation of hydraulic fracturing, domestic and worldwide economic conditions, political instability in crude oil and natural gas producing countries and merger and divestiture activity among our current or potential customers. The volatility of the oil and natural gas industry and the resulting impact on exploration and production activity could adversely impact the level of drilling activity. This reduction may cause a decline in business opportunities or the demand for our services, or adversely affect the price of our services. Reduced discovery rates of new crude oil and natural gas reserves in our market areas also may have a negative long-term impact on our business, even in an environment of stronger crude oil and natural gas prices, to the extent existing production is not replaced.

The crude oil and natural gas production industry tends to run in cycles and may, at any time, cycle into a downturn; if that occurs, the rate at which it returns to former levels, if ever, will be uncertain. Prior adverse changes in the global economic environment and capital markets and declines in prices for crude oil and natural gas have caused many customers to reduce capital budgets for future periods and have caused decreased demand for crude oil and natural gas. Limitations on the availability of capital, or higher costs of capital, for financing expenditures have caused and may continue to cause customers to make additional reductions to capital budgets in the future even if commodity prices increase from current levels. These cuts in spending may curtail drilling programs and other discretionary spending, which could result in a reduction in business opportunities and demand for our services, the rates we can charge and our utilization. In addition, certain of our customers could become unable to pay their suppliers, including us. Any of these conditions or events could materially and adversely affect our consolidated results of operations and in addition to impacting our business, financial condition and results of operations could require us to incur impairment charges against the associated assets or the write down of our goodwill.

The volume of water we process and crude oil we transport is driven in large part by the level of crude oil production in the areas in which we operate. Lower crude oil prices provide the producers with less incentive to spend on capital expenditures, which results in fewer drilling rigs and lower amounts of crude oil production, which negatively impacts our crude oil transportation and produced water disposal volumes. In addition, a portion of our profitability in our Water Solutions segment is generated from the sale of crude oil that we recover when processing produced water, and lower crude oil prices have an adverse impact on these sales if not hedged. A decline in crude oil prices or a prolonged period of low crude oil prices could have an adverse effect on our businesses.

The Crude Oil Logistics and Liquids Logistics segments are “margin-based” businesses in which our realized margins depend on the differential of sales prices over our supply costs. Our profitability is therefore sensitive to changes in product prices caused by changes in supply, pipeline transportation and storage capacity or other market conditions.

Generally, we attempt to maintain an inventory position that is substantially balanced between our purchases and sales, including our future delivery obligations. We attempt to obtain a certain margin for our purchases by selling our product to our customers, which include third-party consumers, other wholesalers and retailers, and others. However, market, weather or other conditions beyond our control may disrupt our expected supply of product, and we may be required to obtain supply at increased prices that cannot be passed through to our customers. In general, product supply contracts permit suppliers to charge posted prices at the time of delivery or the current prices established at major storage points, creating the potential for sudden and drastic price fluctuations. Sudden and extended wholesale price increases could reduce our margins. Conversely, a prolonged decline in product prices could potentially result in a reduction of the borrowing base under the ABL Facility, and we could be required to liquidate inventory that we have already presold.

One of the strategies of our Liquids Logistics segment is to purchase refined petroleum and renewable products primarily in the Gulf Coast, West Coast and Midwest regions of the United States and schedule them for delivery at various locations throughout the country. We are subject to the risk of a price decline between the time we purchase refined products and the time we sell the products. We seek to mitigate this risk by entering into NYMEX futures contracts. However, price changes in locations where we operate do not correspond directly with changes in prices in the NYMEX futures market, and as a result these futures contracts cannot be perfect hedges of our commodity price risk.

We experience competition in all of our segments. In our Liquids Logistics segment, we compete for natural gas liquids supplies and also for customers for our services. Our competitors include major integrated oil companies, other midstream or wholesale marketing companies, interstate and intrastate pipelines and companies that gather, compress, treat, process, transport, store and market natural gas. Our natural gas liquids terminals compete with other terminaling and storage providers in the transportation and storage of natural gas liquids. Natural gas and natural gas liquids also compete with other forms of energy, including electricity, coal, fuel oil and renewable or alternative energy. Our Liquids Logistics segment is also seeing increased competition for supply from international markets. We also face significant competition for refined products supplies and customers for those services.

Our Crude Oil Logistics segment faces significant competition for crude oil supplies and customers for our services. These operations also face competition from transportation companies for incremental and marginal volumes in the areas we serve. Further, our crude oil terminals compete with terminals owned by integrated petroleum companies, refining and marketing companies, independent terminal companies and distribution companies with marketing and trading operations.

Our Water Solutions segment is in direct and indirect competition with other businesses, including disposal and other produced water treatment businesses.

We can make no assurance that we will compete successfully in each of our businesses. If a competitor attempts to increase market share by reducing prices, we may lose customers, which would reduce our revenues.

We use third-party common carrier pipelines to transport our products and we use third-party facilities to store our products. Any significant interruption in the service at these storage facilities or on common carrier pipelines we use would adversely affect our ability to obtain and deliver products. We transport natural gas liquids and biodiesel by railcar. We do not own or operate the railroads on which these railcars are transported. Any disruptions in the operations of these railroads would adversely impact our ability to deliver product to our customers.

We do not own all of the land on which our facilities are located, and we are therefore subject to the possibility of more onerous terms and/or increased costs to retain necessary land use if we do not have valid rights-of-way or if our facilities are not properly located within the boundaries of such rights-of-way. Additionally, our loss of rights, through our inability to renew right-of-way contracts or otherwise, could materially and adversely affect our business, consolidated results of operations and financial position.

Additionally, certain facilities and equipment (or parts thereof) used by us are leased from third parties for specific periods, including many of our railcars. Our inability to renew facility or equipment leases or otherwise maintain the right to utilize such facilities and equipment on acceptable terms, or the increased costs to maintain such rights, could have a material and adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations and cash flows.

We own natural gas liquids and crude oil terminals and lease storage capacity from third-party natural gas liquids and refined product terminals. The facilities depend on pipelines, railroads, truck transports, and storage systems that are owned and operated by third parties. Any interruption of service at the terminals, or on pipeline, railroad or lateral connections or adverse change in the terms and conditions of services could have a material adverse effect on our ability, and the ability of our customers, to transport product to and from our facilities and have a corresponding material adverse effect on our revenues. In addition, the rates charged by the interconnected pipelines for transportation to and from our facilities impact the utilization and value of our terminals. We have historically been able to pass through the costs of pipeline transportation to our customers. However, if competing pipelines do not have similar annual tariff increases or service fee adjustments, such increases could affect our ability to compete, thereby adversely affecting our revenues.

Our costs may increase more rapidly than the fees that we charge to customers pursuant to our contracts with them. Additionally, some customers’ obligations under their agreements with us may be permanently or temporarily reduced upon the occurrence of certain events, some of which are beyond our control, including force majeure events wherein the production of or the supply of crude oil, condensate, and/or natural gas liquids are curtailed or cut off. Force majeure events include (but are not limited to) revolutions, wars, acts of enemies, embargoes, import or export restrictions, strikes, lockouts, fires, storms, floods, acts of God, explosions, mechanical or physical failures of our equipment or facilities of our customers. If the escalation of fees is insufficient to cover increased costs, or if any customer suspends or terminates its contracts with us, our profitability could be materially and adversely affected.

Pursuant to the requirements of our market risk policy, we attempt to lock in a margin for a portion of the commodities we purchase by selling such commodities for physical delivery to our customers, such as independent refiners or major oil companies, or by entering into future delivery obligations under contracts for forward sale. We also enter into financial derivative contracts, such as futures, to protect against commodity price risk and, as a component of our overall business strategy, we may increase or decrease from time to time our use of such financial derivative contracts in the future. Our use of such financial derivative contracts could cause us to forego the economic benefits we would otherwise realize if commodity prices or interest rates were to change in our favor. Through these transactions, we seek to maintain a position that is substantially balanced between purchases on the one hand, and sales or future delivery obligations on the other hand. These policies and practices cannot, however, eliminate all risks. Although we monitor such activities in our risk management processes and procedures, such activities could result in losses, which could adversely affect our consolidated results of operations and impair our ability to make payments on our debt obligations or distributions to our unitholders. For example, any event that disrupts our anticipated physical supply of commodities could expose us to risk of loss resulting from the need to cover obligations required under contracts for forward sale.

Propane competes with other sources of energy, some of which are less costly for equivalent energy value. Competition from alternative energy sources, including electricity, natural gas and renewables, has increased from reduced regulation of many utilities. The gradual expansion of the nation’s natural gas distribution systems has resulted in natural gas being available in areas that previously depended on propane. In addition, the national trend toward increased conservation and technological advances, such as installation of improved insulation and the development of more efficient furnaces and other appliances, has adversely affected the demand for propane. Future expansion of alternative energy sources, conservation measures or technological advances in appliance efficiency, power generation or other devices may reduce demand for propane and cause us to lose customers.

We cannot predict the effect that development of alternative energy sources, increased conservation or new technology may have on our operations, including whether subsidies of alternative energy sources by local, state, and federal governments might be expanded, or what impact this might have on the supply of or the demand for crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids.

In August 2022, President Biden signed the IRA, which contains, among other things, numerous incentives for the development of renewable energy, clean hydrogen, clean fuels, electric vehicles and supporting infrastructure and carbon capture and sequestration. In addition, the IRA imposes a federal fee on the emission of methane from sources required to report their GHG emissions to the EPA, including certain sources in the onshore petroleum and natural gas production categories. Some of our producer customers face exposure to the IRA pay to emit methane program. In addition, the multiple incentives offered for various clean energy industries referenced above could decrease demand for crude oil and natural gas, increase our compliance and operating costs and consequently adversely affect our business.

Any sustained decrease in demand for refined products in the markets we serve could reduce our cash flow. Factors that could lead to a decrease in market demand include:

We operate in various locations across the United States and Canada which may be adversely affected by seasonal weather conditions and natural or man-made disasters. During periods of heavy snow, ice, rain or extreme weather conditions such as high winds, tornados and hurricanes or after other natural disasters such as earthquakes or wildfires, we may be unable to move our trucks or railcars between locations and our facilities may be damaged, thereby reducing our ability to provide services and generate revenues. In addition, hurricanes or other severe weather in the Gulf Coast region could seriously disrupt the supply of products and cause serious shortages in various areas, including the areas in which we operate. These same conditions may cause serious damage or destruction to homes, business structures and the operations of customers. Such disruptions could potentially have a material adverse impact on our business, consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Weather conditions have a significant impact on the demand for propane for heating and agriculture purposes. Accordingly, our sales volumes of propane are highest during the winter-heating season of November through March and are directly affected by the temperatures during these months. Actual weather conditions can vary substantially from year to year, which may significantly affect our financial performance or condition. Furthermore, variations in weather in one or more regions in which we operate can significantly affect our total propane sales volume and therefore our financial performance or condition. The agricultural demand for propane is affected by weather, as dry or warm weather during the harvest season may reduce the demand for propane used in some crop drying applications.

Our ability to complete accretive acquisitions on economically acceptable terms may be limited by various factors, including, but not limited to:

There can be no assurance that we will identify attractive acquisition candidates in the future, that we will be able to acquire such businesses on economically acceptable terms, that any acquisitions will not be dilutive to earnings and distributions. Furthermore, if we consummate any future acquisitions, our capitalization and results of operations may change

Any acquisitions we make in pursuit of our growth strategy are subject to potential risks, including, but not limited to:

We undertake due diligence efforts in our assessment of acquisitions, but may be unable to identify or fully plan for all issues and risks associated with a particular acquisition. Even when an issue or risk is identified, we may be unable to obtain adequate contractual protection from the seller. The realization of any of these risks could have a material adverse effect on the success of a particular acquisition or our consolidated financial position, results of operations or future growth.

As part of our growth strategy, we may expand our operations into businesses that differ from our existing operations. Integration of new businesses is a complex, costly and time-consuming process and may involve assets with which we have limited operating experience. Failure to timely and successfully integrate acquired businesses into our existing operations may have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial position or results of operations. In addition to the risks set forth above, new businesses will subject us to additional business and operating risks, such as the acquisitions not being accretive to our unitholders as a result of decreased profitability, increased interest expense related to debt we incur to make such acquisitions or an inability to successfully integrate those operations into our overall business operations. The realization of any of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position or results of operations.

One of the ways we intend to grow our business is through the construction of additions to our systems and/or the construction of new terminaling, transportation, and produced water treatment facilities. These expansion projects require the expenditure of significant amounts of capital, which may exceed our resources, and involve numerous regulatory, environmental, political and legal uncertainties, including political opposition by landowners, environmental activists and others. There can be no assurance that we will complete these projects on schedule or at all or at the budgeted cost. Our revenues may not increase upon the expenditure of funds on a particular project. Moreover, we may undertake expansion projects to capture anticipated future growth in production in a region in which anticipated production growth does not materialize or for which we are unable to acquire new customers. We may also rely on estimates of proved, probable or possible reserves in our decision to undertake expansion projects, which may prove to be inaccurate. As a result, our new facilities and infrastructure may not be able to attract enough product to achieve our expected investment return, which could materially and adversely affect our consolidated results of operations and financial position.

We may face opposition to the operation of our pipelines and facilities from environmental groups, landowners, environmental justice communities, tribal groups, local groups and other advocates. Such opposition could take many forms, including the delay or denial of required governmental permits, organized protests, attempts to block or sabotage our operations, intervention in regulatory or administrative proceedings involving our assets, or lawsuits or other actions designed to prevent, disrupt or delay the operation of our assets and business. For example, repairing our pipelines often involves securing consent from individual landowners to access their property; one or more landowners may resist our efforts to make

Our business plans are based upon the assumption that societal sentiment will continue to enable, and existing regulations will stay intact for, the future development, transportation and use of hydrocarbon-based fuels. Policy decisions relating to the production, refining, transportation and sale of hydrocarbon-based fuels are subject to political pressures, the negative portrayal of the industry in which we operate by the media and others, and the influence and protests of environmental and other special interest groups. Such negative sentiment regarding the hydrocarbon energy industry could influence consumer preferences and government or regulatory actions, which could have an adverse impact on our business.

Recently, activists concerned about the potential effects of climate change have directed their attention towards sources of funding for hydrocarbon energy companies, which has resulted in certain financial institutions, funds and other sources of capital restricting or eliminating their investment in energy-related activities. Ultimately, this could make it more difficult to secure funding for exploration and production activities or energy infrastructure related projects and ongoing operations, and consequently could both indirectly affect demand for our services and directly affect our ability to fund construction or other capital projects, as well as properly run our ongoing operations.

We have certain key individuals in our senior management who we believe are critical to the success of our business. The loss of leadership and involvement of those key management personnel could potentially have a material adverse impact on our business and possibly on the market value of our common units. Further, we compete with other businesses to attract and retain qualified employees and a tight labor market may cause our labor costs to increase. No assurance can be given that our labor costs will not increase, or that such increases can be recovered through increased prices charged to customers.

The intrastate transportation or storage of crude oil and refined products is subject to regulation by the state in which the facilities are located and transactions occur. Compliance with these state regulations could have a material and adverse effect on that portion of our business, consolidated results of operations and financial position.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”) which was enacted on July 21, 2010, established federal oversight and regulation of the over-the-counter derivatives market and of entities, such as us, that participate in that market. The Dodd-Frank Act requires the CFTC and the SEC to promulgate rules and regulations implementing the Dodd-Frank Act. The Dodd-Frank Act provides for statutory and regulatory requirements for derivative transactions, including crude oil, refined and renewable products, and natural gas hedging transactions. Certain transactions will be required to be cleared on exchanges and cash collateral will have to be posted. The Dodd-Frank Act provides for a potential

Our operations, including those involving crude oil, condensate, natural gas liquids, refined products, renewables, and crude oil and natural gas produced water, are subject to stringent federal, state, provincial and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of natural resources and the environment, health and safety, waste management, and transportation and disposal of such products and materials. We face inherent risks of incurring significant environmental costs and liabilities due to handling of produced water and hydrocarbons, such as crude oil, condensate, natural gas liquids, gasoline, diesel, and biodiesel. For instance, our Water Solutions segment carries with it environmental risks, including the risk of leakage from the treatment plants to surface or subsurface soils, surface water or groundwater, or accidental spills. Our Crude Oil Logistics and Liquids Logistics segments carry similar risks of leakage and sudden or accidental spills of crude oil, natural gas liquids, and hydrocarbons. Liability under, or violation of, environmental laws and regulations could result in, among other things, the restriction or cancellation of operations, injunctions, fines and penalties, reputational damage, expenditures for remediation and liability for natural resource damages, property damage and personal injuries.

We use various modes of transportation to carry natural gas liquids, crude oil, refined and renewable products and produced water, including trucks, railcars, barges, and pipelines, each of which is subject to regulation. With respect to transportation by truck, we are subject to regulations promulgated under federal legislation, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act and the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which cover the security and transportation of hazardous materials and are administered by the DOT. We also own and lease a fleet of railcars, the operation of which is subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the Federal Railroad Administration of the DOT, as well as other federal and state regulatory agencies. Railcar accidents within the industry involving trains carrying crude oil from the Bakken region (none of which directly involved any of our business operations), have led to increased legislative and regulatory scrutiny over the safety of transporting crude oil by railcar. The introduction of regulations that result in new requirements addressing the type, design, specifications or construction of railcars used to transport crude oil could result in severe transportation capacity constraints during the periods in which new railcars are constructed to meet new specifications or in which the railcars already placed in service are being retrofitted.

In addition, under certain environmental laws, we could be subject to strict and/or joint and several liability for the investigation, removal or remediation of previously released materials. As a result, these laws could cause us to become liable for the conduct of others, such as prior owners or operators of our facilities, or for consequences of our or our predecessor’s actions, regardless of whether we were responsible for the release or if such actions were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time of those actions. Also, upon closure of certain facilities, such as at the end of their useful life, we have been and may be required to undertake environmental evaluations or cleanups.

Additionally, in order to conduct our operations, we must obtain and maintain numerous permits, approvals and other authorizations from various federal, state, provincial and local governmental authorities relating to produced water handling, discharge and disposal, air emissions, transportation and other environmental matters. These authorizations subject us to terms and conditions which may be onerous or costly to comply with, and that may require costly operational modifications to attain and maintain compliance. The renewal, amendment or modification of these permits, approvals and other authorizations may involve the imposition of even more stringent and burdensome terms and conditions with higher costs and more significant effects upon our operations.

Changes in environmental laws and regulations occur frequently. New laws or regulations, changes to existing laws or regulations, such as more stringent pollution control requirements or additional safety requirements, or more stringent interpretation or enforcement of existing laws and regulations, may adversely impact us, and could result in increased operating

Furthermore, our customers in the oil and gas production industry are subject to certain environmental laws and regulations that may impose significant costs and liabilities on them. In April 2022, the state of New Mexico adopted new air quality rules that aim to eliminate hundreds of millions of pounds of harmful emissions annually from oil and gas production in New Mexico. Any significant increased costs or restrictions placed on our customers to comply with environmental laws and regulations could affect their production output significantly. Such an effect on our customers could materially and adversely affect our utilization and profitability by reducing demand for our services. The adoption or implementation of any new regulations imposing additional reporting obligations on GHG emissions, or limiting GHG emissions from our equipment and operations, could require us to incur significant costs. As is generally understood regarding the regulatory landscape, there can be no guarantee that these or future rules affecting our operations will not have material effects on our consolidated results of operations and financial position.

The threat of climate change continues to attract considerable attention in the United States and in foreign countries. Numerous proposals have been made and could continue to be made at the international, national, regional and state levels of government to monitor and limit existing emissions of GHGs as well as to restrict or eliminate such future emissions. As a result, our operations as well as the operations of our crude oil and natural gas exploration and production customers and suppliers are subject to a series of regulatory, political, litigation, and financial risks associated with the production and processing of fossil fuels and emission of GHGs.

In the United States, no comprehensive climate change legislation has been implemented at the federal level. However, following the U.S. Supreme Court finding that GHG emissions constitute a pollutant under the CAA, the EPA has adopted regulations that, among other things, establish construction and operating permit reviews for GHG emissions from certain large stationary sources, require the monitoring and annual reporting of GHG emissions from certain petroleum and natural gas system sources in the United States, and together with the DOT, implement GHG emissions limits on vehicles manufactured for operation in the United States. The regulation of methane from oil and gas facilities has been subject to uncertainty in recent years, but most recently, in December 2023, the EPA finalized its rulemaking establishing New Source Performance Standards to reduce emissions of methane and other volatile organic compounds from new and modified sources. Additionally, various states and groups of states have adopted or are considering adopting legislation, regulations or other regulatory initiatives that are focused on such areas as GHG cap and trade programs, carbon taxes, reporting and tracking programs, and restriction of emissions. Internationally, the United Nations-sponsored “Paris Agreement” requires member states to individually determine and submit non-binding emissions reduction targets every five years after 2020. Although the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement on November 4, 2020, on January 20, 2021, President Biden signed executive orders recommitting the United States to the agreement and calling on the federal government to begin formulating the United States’ nationally determined emissions reduction targets under the agreement.

Governmental, scientific, and public concern over the threat of climate change arising from GHG emissions has resulted in increasing political risks in the United States, including climate change related pledges made by certain candidates recently elected to public office. These have included promises to limit emissions and curtail the production of oil and gas, such as through the cessation of leasing public land for hydrocarbon development. For example, on January 27, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order that commits to substantial action on climate change, calling for, among other things, the increased use of zero-emissions vehicles by the federal government, the elimination of subsidies provided to the fossil fuel industry, and increased emphasis on climate-related risk across governmental agencies and economic sectors. Separately, on January 20, 2021, the Acting Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior (“DOI”) issued an order that, among other things, imposed a 60-day moratorium on the issuance of fossil fuel authorizations, including leases and permits, on federal lands. While the DOI announced on April 15, 2022 that it will resume oil and gas leasing on public lands following a federal court’s decision, the topic of oil and gas leasing on public land remains politically fraught, as the announcement indicates that federal land available for oil and gas leasing will be reduced by 80 percent from the acreage originally nominated due to environmental and climate concerns. Other actions that could be pursued by the Biden Administration may include the imposition of more restrictive requirements for the establishment of pipeline infrastructure or the permitting of liquified natural

There are also increasing financial risks for fossil fuel producers as shareholders currently invested in fossil-fuel energy companies may elect in the future to shift some or all of their investments into other related sectors. Institutional lenders who provide financing to fossil-fuel energy companies also have become more attentive to sustainable lending practices and some of them may elect not to provide funding for fossil-fuel energy companies. There is also a risk that financial institutions will be required to adopt policies that have the effect of reducing the funding provided to the fossil fuel sector. The U.S. Federal Reserve announced that it has applied to join the Network for Greening the Financial System, a consortium of financial regulators focused on addressing climate-related risks in the financial sector. A material reduction in the capital available to the fossil fuel industry could make it more difficult to secure funding for exploration, development, production, transportation and processing activities, which could result in decreased demand for our services.

The adoption and implementation of new or more stringent international, federal or state legislation, regulations or other regulatory initiatives that impose more stringent standards for GHG emissions from the oil and natural gas sector or otherwise restrict the areas in which this sector may produce oil and natural gas or generate GHG emissions could result in increased costs of compliance or costs of consuming, and thereby reduce demand for, oil and natural gas, which could reduce demand for our services and products. Additionally, political, litigation and financial risks may result in our oil and natural gas customers restricting or canceling production activities, incurring liability for infrastructure damages as a result of climatic changes, or impairing their ability to continue to operate in an economic manner, which also could reduce demand for our services and products. One or more of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to unitholders.

Finally, many scientists have concluded that increasing concentrations of GHGs in the Earth’s atmosphere may produce climate changes that have significant physical effects, such as increased frequency and severity of storms, floods and other climatic events. If any such effects were to occur, they could adversely affect our results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to unitholders. In addition, while our consideration of changing weather conditions and inclusion of safety factors in design covers the uncertainties that climate change and other events may potentially introduce, our ability to mitigate the adverse impacts of these events depends in part on the effectiveness of our facilities and our disaster preparedness and response and business continuity planning, which may not have considered or be prepared for every eventuality.

Hydraulic fracturing is a common practice within the oil and gas exploration and production process, including within those fields where our Water Solutions and Crude Oil Logistics segments operate. The practice of hydraulic fracturing is a well-stimulation technique utilized to facilitate the production of oil and natural gas and other hydrocarbon condensates from shale and tight conventional formations. The exploration and production process, including the practice of hydraulic fracturing, is subject to regulation by state and federal authorities. Jurisdiction and applicable regulatory requirements can vary depending on the location of the activity. The process of hydraulic fracturing has come under considerable scrutiny from sections of the public as well as environmental and other groups asserting that the practice could be responsible for incidents of induced seismicity and that chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process could adversely affect drinking water supplies. New laws or regulations, or changes to existing laws or regulations in response to this perceived threat may adversely impact the oil and gas drilling industry. Any current or proposed restrictions on hydraulic fracturing could lead to operational delays or increased operating costs and regulatory burdens that could make it more difficult or costly to perform hydraulic fracturing which would negatively impact our customer base resulting in an adverse effect on our profitability. For example, on January 20, 2021, the Biden Administration placed a 60-day moratorium on new oil and gas leasing and drilling permits on federal lands, and on January 27, 2021, the DOI acting pursuant to an Executive Order from President Biden suspended the federal oil and gas leasing program indefinitely. Although the DOI announced the resumption of onshore oil and gas leasing in April 2022, the program is being significantly reformed, with 80 percent less land available for leasing from the acreage originally nominated. On April 12, 2024, the DOI finalized a comprehensive update to federal onshore oil and gas leasing regulations on Bureau of Land Management-managed public lands, which increased bonding requirements, royalty rates, and minimum bids. Actions such as these could have a material adverse effect on us and our industry.

Various federal and state statutes prohibit certain actions that harm endangered or threatened species and their habitats, migratory birds, wetlands and natural resources. These statutes include the ESA, the MBTA, the BGEPA, the CWA, CERCLA and the Oil Pollution Act. The USFWS may designate critical habitat and suitable habitat areas that it believes are necessary for survival of threatened or endangered species. A critical habitat or suitable habitat designation could result in further material restrictions to federal land use and private land use and could delay, restrict or prohibit our customers’ land access or oil and gas development. If adverse impact to species or damages to wetlands, habitat or natural resources occur or may occur as result of our or our customers’ activities, government entities or, at times, private parties may act to prevent such activities or seek damages for harm to species, habitat or natural resources resulting from our activities or our customers’ drilling, construction or releases of oil, wastes, hazardous substances or other regulated materials, which could reduce the demand for our services.

For example, on July 3, 2023, the USFWS proposed that the dunes sagebrush lizard, which is found in areas where we operate, be listed as endangered under the ESA. The comment period on the proposed rule ended on October 2, 2023. In addition, the lesser prairie-chicken, which can also be found in areas where we operate, was listed under the ESA effective March 27, 2023.

To the extent species are listed under the ESA or similar state laws, or previously unprotected species are designated as threatened or endangered in areas where our assets and operations are located, operations in those areas could incur increased costs arising from species protection measures and face delays or limitations with respect to production activities thereon.

The water disposal process is primarily regulated by state oil and gas authorities. This water disposal process has come under scrutiny from sections of the public, including various state regulatory bodies, as well as environmental and other groups asserting that the operation of certain water disposal wells has contributed to specific induced seismic events. New laws or regulations, or changes to existing laws or regulations, in response to this perceived threat may adversely impact the water disposal industry.

We cannot predict whether any federal, state or local laws or regulations will be enacted and, if so, what actions any such laws or regulations would require or prohibit. However, any restrictions on water disposal could lead to operational delays or increased operating costs and regulatory burdens that could make it more difficult or costly to perform water disposal operations, which would negatively impact our profitability. To date, due to the capacity of our integrated system in the affected areas, the diverse locations of our disposal facilities, and the connectivity of our system, our ability to dispose of produced water has not been materially impacted by these actions, and with our unique positioning outside of the affected areas, we have the ability to grow our asset base.

The FERC regulates the transportation of crude oil and refined products on interstate pipelines, among other things. The FERC’s jurisdiction over oil pipelines derives from a 1906 amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act making oil pipelines common carriers subject to federal regulation. The FERC has regulated oil pipelines under this authority since 1977, when legislation transferred jurisdiction to the FERC from the Interstate Commerce Commission. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 directed the FERC to establish a simplified and generally applicable ratemaking methodology for oil pipelines, keeping with its statutory mandate to ensure that oil pipelines’ rates are just and reasonable.

Intrastate transportation and gathering pipelines that do not provide interstate services are subject to regulation by state regulatory commissions, such as the Texas Railroad Commission. The distinction between the FERC-regulated interstate pipeline transportation on the one hand and intrastate pipeline transportation on the other hand, is a fact-based determination. The Grand Mesa Pipeline became operational on November 1, 2016 and has several points of origin in Colorado, runs from those origin points through Kansas and terminates in Cushing, Oklahoma. The transportation services on the Grand Mesa Pipeline are subject to FERC regulation. Other of our transportation services could in the future become subject to the jurisdiction of the FERC, which could adversely affect the terms of service, rates and revenues of such services.

The classification and regulation of our crude oil pipelines are subject to change based on future determinations by the FERC, federal courts, Congress or regulatory commissions, courts or legislatures in the states in which we operate. If the FERC’s regulatory reach was expanded to our other facilities, or if we expand our operations into areas that are subject to the FERC’s regulation, we may have to commit substantial capital to comply with such regulations and such expenditures could have a material and adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations and cash flows.

There are numerous laws and regulations regarding privacy and the storage, sharing, use, processing, transfer, disclosure and protection of personal data, the scope of which is changing, subject to differing interpretations, and may be inconsistent between states within a country or between countries. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which went into effect on January 1, 2020, limits how we may collect and use personal data. The effects of the CCPA potentially are far-reaching and may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and incur compliance-related costs and expenses. Further, in November 2020, California voters passed the California Privacy Rights and Enforcement Act (“CPRA”), which expands the CCPA with additional data privacy compliance requirements that may impact our business, and establishes a regulatory agency dedicated to enforcing those requirements. It remains unclear how various provisions of the CCPA and CPRA will be interpreted and enforced. These and other data privacy laws and their interpretations continue to develop and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Non-compliance with these laws could result in penalties or significant legal liability. Although we take reasonable efforts to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, there can be no assurance that we will not be subject to regulatory action, including fines, in the event of an incident. We or our third-party service providers could be adversely affected if legislation or regulations are expanded to require changes in our or our third-party service providers’ business practices or if governing jurisdictions interpret or implement their legislation or regulations in ways that negatively affect our or our third-party service providers’ business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our cross-border activities subject us to regulatory matters, including import and export licenses, tariffs, Canadian and United States customs and tax issues, and toxic substance certifications. Such regulations include the “Short Supply Controls” of the Export Administration Act, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Toxic Substances Control Act. Violations of these licensing, tariff and tax reporting requirements could result in the imposition of significant administrative, civil and criminal penalties.

Fiduciary duties owed to our unitholders by our GP are prescribed by law and our Partnership Agreement. The Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (“Delaware LP Act”) provides that Delaware limited partnerships may, in their partnership agreements, restrict the fiduciary duties owed by the general partner to limited partners and the partnership. Our Partnership Agreement contains provisions that reduce the standards to which our GP would otherwise be held by state fiduciary duty law. For example, our Partnership Agreement:

By purchasing a common unit, a common unitholder will become bound by the provisions of our Partnership Agreement, including the provisions described above.

In addition, certain members of the NGL Energy GP Investor Group and their affiliates currently hold interests in other companies in the energy and natural resource sectors. Our Partnership Agreement provides that our GP will be restricted from engaging in any business activities other than acting as our GP and those activities incidental to its ownership interest in us. However, members of the NGL Energy GP Investor Group are not prohibited from engaging in other businesses or activities, including those that might be in direct competition with us. As a result, they could potentially compete with us for acquisition opportunities and for new business or extensions of the existing services provided by us.

Pursuant to the terms of our Partnership Agreement, the doctrine of corporate opportunity, or any analogous doctrine, does not apply to our GP or any of its affiliates, including its executive officers, directors and owners. Any such person or entity that becomes aware of a potential transaction, agreement, arrangement or other matter that may be an opportunity for us will not have any duty to communicate or offer such opportunity to us. Any such person or entity will not be liable to us or to any limited partner for breach of any fiduciary duty or other duty by reason of the fact that such person or entity pursues or acquires such opportunity for itself, directs such opportunity to another person or entity or does not communicate such opportunity or information to us. This may create actual and potential conflicts of interest between us and affiliates of our GP and result in less than favorable treatment of us and our unitholders.

Unlike the holders of common stock in a corporation, unitholders have only limited voting rights on matters affecting our business and, therefore, limited ability to influence management’s decisions regarding our business. Unitholders will have no right on an annual or ongoing basis to elect our GP or its board of directors. The board of directors of our GP is chosen entirely by its members and not by our unitholders. Unlike publicly traded corporations, we will not conduct annual meetings of our unitholders to elect directors or conduct other matters routinely conducted at annual meetings of stockholders of corporations. Furthermore, if our unitholders are dissatisfied with the performance of our GP, they will have limited ability to remove our GP. As a result of these limitations, the price at which the common units will trade could be diminished because of the absence or reduction of a takeover premium in the trading price. Our Partnership Agreement also contains provisions limiting the ability of unitholders to call meetings or to acquire information about our operations, as well as other provisions limiting our unitholders’ ability to influence the manner or direction of management.

Unitholders’ voting rights are further restricted by a provision of our Partnership Agreement providing that any units held by a person that owns 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, other than our GP, its affiliates, their direct transferees and their indirect transferees approved by our GP (which approval may be granted in its sole discretion) and persons who acquired such units with the prior approval of our GP, cannot vote on any matter.

Our GP may transfer its GP interest to a third party in a merger or in a sale of all or substantially all of its assets without the consent of our unitholders. Furthermore, our Partnership Agreement does not restrict the ability of the members of the NGL Energy GP Investor Group to transfer all or a portion of their ownership interest in our GP to a third party. The new owner of our GP would then be in a position to replace the board of directors and officers of our GP with its own designees and thereby exert significant control over the decisions made by the board of directors and officers.

Our GP may transfer its IDRs to a third party at any time without the consent of our unitholders. If our GP transfers its IDRs to a third party but retains its GP interest, our GP may not have the same incentive to grow our partnership and increase quarterly distributions to unitholders over time as it would if it had retained ownership of its IDRs.

If at any time our GP and its affiliates own more than 80% of the common units, our GP will have the right, which it may assign to any of its affiliates or to us, but not the obligation, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the common units held by unaffiliated persons at a price that is not less than their then-current market price, as calculated pursuant to the terms of our Partnership Agreement. As a result, our unitholders may be required to sell their common units at an undesirable time or price and may not receive any return or may receive a negative return on their investment. Our unitholders may also incur a tax liability upon a sale of their units.

We expect that we will distribute all of our available cash to our unitholders and will rely primarily on external financing sources, including commercial bank borrowings and the issuance of debt and equity securities, as well as reserves we have established to fund our acquisitions and expansion capital expenditures. As a result, to the extent we are unable to finance growth externally, our cash distribution policy will significantly impair our ability to grow.

In addition, because we distribute all of our available cash, our growth may not be as fast as that of businesses that reinvest their available cash to expand ongoing operations. To the extent we issue additional units in connection with any acquisitions or expansion capital expenditures, the payment of distributions on those additional units may increase the risk that we will be unable to maintain or increase our per unit distribution level. There are no limitations in our Partnership Agreement or the agreements governing our indebtedness on our ability to issue additional units, including units ranking senior to the common units. The incurrence of additional commercial borrowings or other debt to finance our growth strategy would result in increased interest expense, which, in turn, may impact the available cash that we have to distribute to our unitholders.

Our Partnership Agreement does not limit the number of additional limited partner interests that we may issue at any time without the approval of our unitholders. Our issuance of additional common units or other equity securities of equal or senior rank will have the following effects:

Our GP has the right to reset the initial target distribution levels at higher levels based on our distributions at the time of the exercise of the reset election. Following a reset election by our GP, the minimum quarterly distribution will be adjusted to equal the reset minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels will be reset to correspondingly higher levels based on percentage increases above the reset minimum quarterly distribution.

If our GP elects to reset the target distribution levels, it will be entitled to receive a number of common units. The number of common units to be issued to our GP will be equal to that number of common units that would have entitled their holder to an average aggregate quarterly cash distribution in the prior two quarters equal to the average of the distributions to

A general partner of a partnership generally has unlimited liability for the obligations of the partnership, except for those contractual obligations of the partnership that are expressly made without recourse to the general partner. Our Partnership is organized under Delaware law, and we conduct business in a number of other states. The limitations on the liability of holders of limited partner interests for the obligations of a limited partnership have not been clearly established in some of the other states in which we do business. You could be liable for any and all of our obligations as if you were a general partner if a court or government agency were to determine that:

Under certain circumstances, unitholders may have to repay amounts wrongfully returned or distributed to them. Under Section 17-607 of the Delaware LP Act, we may not make a distribution to our unitholders if the distribution would cause our liabilities to exceed the fair value of our assets. Delaware law provides that for a period of three years from the date of an impermissible distribution, limited partners who received the distribution and who knew at the time of the distribution that it violated Delaware law will be liable to the limited partnership for the distribution amount. Substituted limited partners are liable both for the obligations of the assignor to make contributions to the partnership that were known to the substituted limited partner at the time it became a limited partner and for those obligations that were unknown if the liabilities could have been determined from the partnership agreement. Neither liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interests nor liabilities that are nonrecourse to the partnership are counted for purposes of determining whether a distribution is permitted. For the purpose of determining the fair value of the assets of a limited partnership, the Delaware LP Act provides that the fair value of property subject to liability for which recourse of creditors is limited shall be included in the assets of the limited partnership only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds the nonrecourse liability.

We currently have three series of Preferred Units outstanding. All of these units rank senior to the common units with respect to distribution rights and rights upon liquidation. Subject to certain exceptions, as long as any Preferred Units remain outstanding, we may not declare any distribution on our common units unless all accumulated and unpaid distributions have been declared and paid on the Preferred Units. In the event of our liquidation, winding-up or dissolution, the holders of the Preferred Units would have the right to receive proceeds from any such transaction before the holders of the common units. The payment of the liquidation preference could result in common unitholders not receiving any consideration if we were to liquidate, dissolve or wind up, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Additionally, the existence of the liquidation preference may reduce the value of the common units, make it harder for us to sell common units in offerings in the future, or prevent or delay a change of control.

We currently have outstanding exercisable warrants to purchase 25,500,000 common units at exercise prices ranging from $13.56 per unit to $17.45 per unit. Any exercise of these warrants would cause dilution to existing common unitholders and may place downward pressure on the trading price of our common units. All outstanding warrants are currently exercisable and any unexercised warrants will expire on the tenth anniversary of the date of issuance. The warrants will not participate in

The anticipated after-tax economic benefit of an investment in our common units depends largely on our being treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. We have not requested, and do not plan to request, a ruling from the IRS with respect to our treatment as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.

Despite the fact that we are a limited partnership under Delaware law, a publicly traded partnership such as us will be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes unless, for each taxable year, 90% or more of its gross income is “qualifying income” under Section 7704 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Internal Revenue Code”). “Qualifying income” includes income and gains derived from the exploration, development, production, processing, transportation, storage and marketing of natural gas, natural gas products, and crude oil or other passive types of income such as certain interest and dividends and gains from the sale or other disposition of capital assets held for the production of income that otherwise constitutes qualifying income. Although we do not believe, based upon our current operations, that we are treated as a corporation, we could be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes or otherwise subject to taxation as an entity if our gross income is not properly classified as qualifying income, there is a change in our business or there is a change in current law.

If we were treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, we would pay federal income tax on our taxable income at the corporate tax rate, which is currently 21% (changed from 35% under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“Act”)), and would likely pay state and local income tax at varying rates. Distributions to our unitholders would generally be taxed again as corporate dividends (to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits), and no income, gains, losses, deductions or credits would flow through to our unitholders. Because a tax would be imposed upon us as a corporation, our cash available for distribution to our unitholders would be substantially reduced. Therefore, treatment of us as a corporation would result in a material reduction in the anticipated cash flow and after-tax return to our unitholders, likely causing a substantial reduction in the market value of our common units.

Our Partnership Agreement provides that if a law is enacted or existing law is modified or interpreted in a manner that subjects us to taxation as a corporation or otherwise subjects us to entity-level taxation for federal income tax purposes, the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution amounts may be adjusted to reflect the impact of that law on us.

In general, our unitholders are entitled to a deduction for the interest we have paid or accrued on indebtedness properly allocable to our business during our taxable year. However, under the Act signed into law by the President of the United States on December 22, 2017, beginning in tax year 2018, the deductibility of net interest expense is limited to 30% of our adjusted taxable income. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2022, the Act calculates adjusted taxable income using an EBITDA-based calculation. For tax years beginning January 1, 2022 and thereafter, the calculation of adjusted taxable income will not add back depreciation or amortization. Any disallowed business interest expense is then generally carried forward as a deduction in a succeeding taxable year at the partner level. These limitations might cause interest expense to be deducted by our unitholders in a later period than recognized in the GAAP financial statements.

Changes in current state law may subject us to additional entity-level taxation by individual states. Because of widespread state budget deficits and other reasons, several states are evaluating ways to subject partnerships to entity-level taxation through the imposition of state income, franchise and other forms of taxation. Imposition of any such taxes may substantially reduce the cash available for distribution to our unitholders. Our Partnership Agreement provides that, if a law is enacted or existing law is modified or interpreted in a manner that subjects us to entity-level taxation, the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution amounts may be adjusted to reflect the impact of that law on us.

The present income tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships, including us, or an investment in our common units may be modified by administrative, legislative or judicial interpretation at any time. For example, from time to time, members of Congress propose and consider substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws that affect the tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships, including as a result of any fundamental tax reform.

We are unable to predict whether any such change or other proposals will ultimately be enacted or will affect our tax treatment. Any modification to the income tax laws and interpretations thereof may or may not be applied retroactively and could, among other things, cause us to be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes or otherwise subject us to entity-level taxation. Moreover, such modifications and change in interpretations may affect or cause us to change our business activities, affect the tax considerations of an investment in us, change the character or treatment of portions of our income and adversely affect an investment in our common units. Although we are unable to predict whether any of these changes, or other proposals, will ultimately be enacted, any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our common units.

We are subject to extensive tax laws and regulations, with respect to federal, state and foreign income taxes and transactional taxes such as excise, sales/use, payroll, franchise and ad valorem taxes. New tax laws and regulations and changes in existing tax laws and regulations are continuously being enacted that could result in increased tax expenditures in the future.

We have not requested a ruling from the IRS with respect to our treatment as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. The IRS may adopt positions that differ from the positions we take. It may be necessary to resort to administrative or court proceedings to sustain some or all of the positions we take and such positions may not ultimately be sustained. A court may not agree with some or all of the positions we take. Any contest with the IRS may materially and adversely impact the market for our common units and the price at which they trade. In addition, our costs of any contest with the IRS will be borne indirectly by our unitholders and our GP because the costs will reduce our cash available for distribution.

Pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, if the IRS makes audit adjustments to our income tax returns for tax years beginning after 2017, it may collect any resulting taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) directly from us. We will generally have the ability to shift any such tax liability to our GP and our unitholders in accordance with their interests in us during the year under audit, but there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so under all circumstances. If we are required to make payments of taxes, penalties and interest resulting from audit adjustments, our cash available for distribution to our unitholders could be substantially reduced.

Because we expect to be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, our unitholders will be treated as partners to whom we will allocate taxable income that could be different in amount than the cash we distribute, our unitholders will be required to pay any federal income taxes and, in some cases, state and local income taxes on their share of our taxable income even if they receive no cash distributions from us. For example, if we sell assets and use the proceeds to repay existing debt or fund capital expenditures, our unitholders may be allocated taxable income and gain resulting from the sale and may not receive a common unit distribution. Similarly, taking advantage of opportunities to reduce our existing debt, such as debt exchanges, debt repurchases, or modifications of our existing debt could result in “cancellation of indebtedness income” being allocated to our unitholders as taxable income without any common unit distribution. Our unitholders may not receive cash distributions from us equal to their share of our taxable income or even equal to the actual tax liability that results from that income.

In the event we issue additional units or engage in certain other transactions in the future, the allocable share of nonrecourse liabilities allocated to the unitholders will be recalculated to take into account our issuance of any additional units. Any reduction in a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities will be treated as a distribution of cash to that unitholder and will result in a corresponding tax basis reduction in a unitholder’s units. A deemed cash distribution may, under certain circumstances, result in the recognition of a taxable gain by a unitholder, to the extent that the deemed cash distribution exceeds such unitholder’s tax basis in its units.

In addition, the federal income tax liability of a unitholder could be increased if we dispose of assets or make a future offering of units and use the proceeds in a manner that does not produce substantial additional deductions, such as to repay indebtedness currently outstanding or to acquire property that is not eligible for depreciation or amortization for federal income tax purposes or that is depreciable or amortizable at a rate significantly slower than the rate currently applicable to our assets.

If unitholders sell their common units, they will recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and their tax basis in those common units. Because distributions in excess of the unitholder’s allocable share of our net taxable income decrease the unitholder’s tax basis in their common units, the amount, if any, of such prior excess distributions with respect to the units the unitholder sells will, in effect, become taxable income to the unitholder if they sell such units at a price greater than their tax basis in those units, even if the price they receive is less than their original cost. Furthermore, a substantial portion of the amount realized on any sale of common units, whether or not representing a gain, may be taxed as ordinary income due to potential recapture items, including depreciation recapture. In addition, because the amount realized includes a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, if a unitholder sells units, they may incur a tax liability in excess of the amount of cash they receive from the sale.

Investment in common units by tax exempt entities, such as employee benefit plans, individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), Keogh plans and other retirement plans and non-United States persons raises issues unique to them. For example, virtually all of our income allocated to organizations that are exempt from federal income tax, including IRAs and other retirement plans, will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to them. Distributions to non-United States persons are generally taxed and subject to income tax filing requirements by the United States on income effectively connected with a United States trade or business (“effectively connected income”). Income allocated to our unitholders and any gain from the sale of our common units will generally be considered to be “effectively connected” with a United States trade or business. As a result, distributions to a non-United States unitholder will be subject to withholding taxes at the highest applicable effective tax rate and a non-United States unitholder who sells or otherwise disposes of a common unit will also be subject to United States federal income tax on the gain realized from the sale or disposition of that common unit. Non-United States persons will be required to file federal income tax returns and pay tax on their share of our taxable income.

In addition to the withholding tax imposed on distributions of effectively connected income, distributions to a non- United States unitholder will also be subject to a 10% withholding tax on the amount of any distribution in excess of our cumulative net income. We intend to treat all of our distributions as being in excess of our cumulative net income for such purposes and subject to such 10% withholding tax. Accordingly, distributions to a non-United States unitholder will be subject to a combined withholding tax rate equal to the sum of the highest applicable effective tax rate and 10%. For a transfer of interests in a publicly traded partnership that is effected through a broker, the obligation to withhold is imposed on the transferor’s broker. We are required to issue qualified notices regarding these matters. Our qualified notices can be found on our website. If you are a tax exempt entity or a non-United States person, you should consult your tax advisor before investing in our common units.

We conduct a portion of our operations through subsidiaries that are corporations for federal income tax purposes. We may elect to conduct additional operations in corporate form in the future. Our corporate subsidiaries will be subject to corporate level tax, which will reduce the cash available for distribution to us and, in turn, to our unitholders. If the IRS or other state or local jurisdictions were to successfully assert that our corporate subsidiaries have more tax liability than we anticipate or legislation was enacted that increased the corporate tax rate, our cash available for distribution to our unitholders would be further reduced.

We prorate our items of income, gain, loss and deduction between transferors and transferees of our units each month based on the ownership of our units on the first business day of each month, instead of on the basis of the date a particular unit is transferred. The United States Department of the Treasury adopted final Treasury Regulations allowing a similar monthly simplifying convention for taxable years beginning on or after August 3, 2015. However, such regulations do not specifically authorize all aspects of the proration method we have adopted. If the IRS were to challenge our proration method, we may be required to change the allocation of items of income, gain, loss and deduction among our unitholders.

Because a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a “short seller” to effect a short sale of units may be considered as having disposed of those common units, the unitholder would no longer be treated for federal income tax purposes as a partner with respect to those common units during the period of the loan to the short seller and the unitholder may recognize a gain or loss from the disposition. Moreover, during the period of the loan to the short seller, any of our income, gain, loss or deduction with respect to those common units may not be reportable by the unitholder and any cash distributions received by the unitholder as to those common units could be fully taxable as ordinary income. Unitholders desiring to assure their status as partners and avoid the risk of gain recognition from a loan to a short seller are urged to consult a tax advisor to discuss whether it is advisable to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit their brokers from borrowing their common units.

When we issue additional units or engage in certain other transactions, we will determine the fair market value of our assets and allocate any unrealized gain or loss attributable to our assets to the capital accounts of our unitholders and our GP. Our methodology may be viewed as understating the value of our assets. In that case, there may be a shift of income, gain, loss and deduction between certain unitholders and the GP, which may be unfavorable to such unitholders. Moreover, under our current valuation methods, subsequent purchasers of common units may have a greater portion of their Internal Revenue Code Section 743(b) adjustment allocated to our tangible assets and a lesser portion allocated to our intangible assets. The IRS may challenge our valuation methods, or our allocation of the Internal Revenue Code Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to our tangible and intangible assets, and allocations of taxable income, gain, loss and deduction between the GP and certain of our unitholders.

A successful IRS challenge to these methods or allocations could adversely affect the amount of taxable income or loss being allocated to our unitholders. It also could affect the amount of taxable gain from our unitholders’ sale of common units and could have a negative impact on the value of the common units or result in audit adjustments to our unitholders’ tax returns without the benefit of additional deductions.

There are a number of limitations that may prevent unitholders from using their allocable share of our losses as a deduction against unrelated income. In cases where our unitholders are subject to the passive loss rules (generally, individuals and closely held corporations), any losses generated by us will only be available to offset our future income and cannot be used to offset income from other activities, including other passive activities or investments. Unused losses may be deducted when the unitholder disposes of its entire investment in us in a fully taxable transaction with an unrelated party. A unitholder’s share of our net passive income may be offset by unused losses from us carried over from prior years but not by losses from other passive activities, including losses from other publicly traded partnerships. Other limitations that may further restrict the deductibility of our losses by a unitholder include the at-risk rules and the prohibition against loss allocations in excess of the unitholder’s tax basis in its units.

In addition to federal income taxes, holders of our common units are subject to other taxes, including foreign, state and local income taxes, unincorporated business taxes and estate, inheritance or intangible taxes that are imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we conduct business or own or control property now or in the future. Holders of our common units are required to file foreign, state and local income tax returns and pay state and local income taxes in some or all of these various jurisdictions and may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with those requirements. We own assets and conduct business in a number of states, most of which impose a personal income tax on individuals. Most of these states also impose an income tax on corporations and other entities. As we make acquisitions or expand our business, we may own or control assets or conduct business in additional states that impose a personal income tax.

The tax treatment of distributions on our Preferred Units is uncertain. We will treat the holders of Preferred Units as partners for tax purposes and will treat distributions on the Preferred Units as guaranteed payments for the use of capital that will generally be taxable to the holders of Preferred Units as ordinary income. A holder of our Preferred Units could recognize taxable income from the accrual of such a guaranteed payment even in the absence of a contemporaneous distribution. Otherwise, the holders of Preferred Units are generally not anticipated to share in our items of income, gain, loss or deduction, nor will we allocate any share of our nonrecourse liabilities to the holders of Preferred Units. If the Preferred Units were treated as indebtedness for tax purposes, rather than as guaranteed payments for the use of capital, distributions likely would be treated as payments of interest by us to the holders of Preferred Units.

Although we expect that much of the income we earn is generally eligible for the 20% deduction for qualified publicly traded partnership income, certain Treasury Regulations, which are effective for our taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, provide that a guaranteed payment for the use of capital is not eligible for the 20% deduction for qualified publicly traded partnership income. As a result, income attributable to a guaranteed payment for the use of capital recognized by holders of Preferred Units is not eligible for the 20% deduction for qualified publicly traded partnership income. All holders of our Preferred Units are urged to consult a tax advisor to determine whether they are eligible to receive the 20% deduction for qualified publicly traded partnership income with respect to their Preferred Units. Further, while unitholders of publicly traded partnerships are, subject to certain limitations, entitled to a deduction equal to 20% of their allocable share of qualified publicly traded partnership income, this deduction is scheduled to expire with respect to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.

A holder of Preferred Units will be required to recognize a gain or loss on a sale of Preferred Units equal to the difference between the amount realized by such holder and such holder’s tax basis in the Preferred Units sold. The amount realized generally will equal the sum of the cash and the fair market value of other property such holder receives in exchange for such Preferred Units. Subject to general rules requiring a blended basis among multiple partnership interests, the tax basis of a Preferred Unit will generally be equal to the sum of the cash and the fair market value of other property paid by the holder of Preferred Units to acquire such Preferred Unit. Gain or loss recognized by a holder of Preferred Units on the sale or exchange of a Preferred Unit held for more than one year generally will be taxable as a long-term capital gain or loss. Because holders of Preferred Units will generally not be allocated a share of our items of depreciation, depletion or amortization, it is not anticipated that such holders would be required to recharacterize any portion of their gain as ordinary income as a result of the recapture rules.

Investment in the Preferred Units by tax-exempt investors, such as employee benefit plans and IRAs, and non-U.S. persons raises issues unique to them. Distributions to non-U.S. holders of Preferred Units will be subject to withholding taxes. If the amount of withholding exceeds the amount of U.S. federal income tax actually due, non-U.S. holders of Preferred Units may be required to file U.S. federal income tax returns in order to seek a refund of such excess. The treatment of guaranteed payments for the use of capital to tax-exempt investors is not certain and such payments may be treated as unrelated business taxable income for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If you are a tax-exempt entity or a non-U.S. person, you should consult your tax advisor with respect to the consequences of owning our Preferred Units.

All holders of our Preferred Units are urged to consult a tax advisor with respect to the consequences of owning our Preferred Units.

The deterioration in the financial condition of one or more of our significant customers or counterparties could result in their failure to perform under the terms of their agreement with us or default in the payment owed to us. Our customers and counterparties include industrial customers, local distribution companies, crude oil and natural gas producers, financial institutions and marketers whose creditworthiness may be suddenly and disparately impacted by, among other factors, commodity price volatility, deteriorating energy market conditions, and public and regulatory opposition to energy producing activities. While we manage our credit risk exposure through credit analysis, credit approvals, establishing credit limits, requiring prepayments (partially or wholly) or other surety, requiring product deliveries over defined time periods, and credit monitoring, we are unable to completely eliminate the performance and credit risk to us associated with doing business with these parties. In a low commodity price environment, certain of our customers have been or could be negatively impacted, causing them significant economic stress resulting, in some cases, in a customer bankruptcy filing or an effort to renegotiate our contracts. The deterioration in the creditworthiness of our customers and the resulting increase in nonpayment and/or nonperformance by them could cause us to write down or write off accounts receivables or tangible and intangible assets. Such write-downs or write-offs could negatively affect our operating results in the periods in which they occur, and, if significant, could materially or adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. We expect to continue to depend on key customers to support our revenues for the foreseeable future. The loss of key customers, failure to renew contracts upon expiration, or a sustained decrease in demand by key customers could result in a substantial loss of revenues and could have a material and adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations. Additionally, certain key customers of the Grand Mesa Pipeline contribute significantly to the cash flows and profitability of that asset. Any loss of those customers or their contracts could have an adverse impact on our financial results. To the extent one or more of our key customers commences bankruptcy proceedings, our contracts with the customers may be subject to rejection under applicable provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code or, if we so agree, may be renegotiated. Further, during any such bankruptcy proceeding, prior to assumption, rejection or renegotiation of such contracts, the bankruptcy court may temporarily authorize the payment of value for our services less than contractually required, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. The resolution of our outstanding claims against such a customer or counterparty is dependent on the terms of the plan of reorganization but may include our claims being converted to equity in the reorganized entity and in addition to impacting our business, financial condition and results of operations could require us to incur impairment charges against the associated assets or the write down of our goodwill.

We are subject to the public reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We are also subject to the obligation under Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley Act”) to annually review and report on our internal control over financial reporting, and to the obligation under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to engage our independent registered public accounting firm to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires public companies to have and maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures to ensure timely disclosures of material information and to have management review the effectiveness of those controls on a quarterly basis. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act also requires public companies to have and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and preparation of financial statements and to have management review the effectiveness of those controls on an annual basis (and have the company’s independent auditors attest to the effectiveness of such internal controls).

Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, prevent fraud, and operate successfully as a publicly traded partnership. Our efforts to maintain our internal controls may be unsuccessful, and we may be unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, including our disclosure controls. Any failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. These risks may be heightened after a business combination, during the phase when we are implementing our internal control structure over the recently acquired business.

Given the difficulties inherent in the design and operation of internal control over financial reporting, as well as future growth of our businesses, we can provide no assurance as to either our or our independent registered public accounting firm’s conclusions about the effectiveness of internal controls in the future, and we may incur significant costs in our efforts to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act . Ineffective internal controls could subject us to regulatory scrutiny and a loss of confidence in our reported financial information, which could have an adverse effect on our business and would likely have a negative effect on the market price of our common units.

Changes in the supply of and demand for hydrocarbon products impacts both the volume of products that we purchase and sell and the level of services that we provide to customers, which in turn impacts our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

The global and U.S. economy has generally recovered from the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted global supply chains, reduced consumer activity, disrupted travel and created significant volatility and disruption of financial and commodity markets. While the World Health Organization declared an end to the global public health emergency for COVID-19 in May 2023, a future global public health crisis could lead to similar disruptions and related economic repercussions. Any resumed period of economic slowdown or recession, or the return to a period of depressed demand or prices for hydrocarbons that we handle, could have significant adverse consequences on our financial condition and the financial condition of our customers, suppliers and other counterparties, and could diminish our liquidity and negatively affect the volumes of products handled by our pipelines and other facilities.

The potential impact of these types of events on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows depends largely on developments outside our control, including the duration of and response to a public health crisis, the related impact on overall economic activity and the potential long-term impacts on demand for crude oil and other products, all of which cannot be predicted with certainty.

An act of terror, or political unrest, in any of the major energy producing regions of the world could potentially result in disruptions in the supply of crude oil and natural gas, which could have a material impact on both availability and price. Terrorist attacks in the areas of our operations could negatively impact our ability to transport crude oil, natural gas liquids and

Our operations are subject to all operating hazards and risks incident to handling, storing, transporting and providing customers with combustible liquids. As a result, we are subject to product liability claims and litigation, including potential class actions, in the ordinary course of business. Any product liability claim or other litigation matter brought against us, with or without merit, could be costly to defend and could result in an increase of our insurance premiums. Some claims brought against us might not be covered by our insurance policies. In addition, we have self-insured retention amounts which we would have to pay in full before obtaining any insurance proceeds to satisfy a judgment or settlement and we may have insufficient reserves on our balance sheet to satisfy such self-retention obligations. Furthermore, even where the claim is covered by our insurance, our insurance coverage might be inadequate and we would have to pay the amount of any settlement or judgment that is in excess of our policy limits. Our failure to maintain adequate insurance coverage or successfully defend against product liability claims or other litigation matters could materially and adversely affect our business, consolidated results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Our business is dependent upon our operational systems to process a large amount of data and complex transactions. If any of our financial or operational systems fail or have other significant shortcomings, our financial results could be adversely affected. Our financial results could also be adversely affected if an employee causes our systems to fail, either as a result of inadvertent error or by deliberately tampering with or manipulating our systems. In addition, dependence upon automated systems may further increase the risk related to operational system flaws, and employee tampering or manipulation of those systems will result in losses that are difficult to detect.

Due to increased technology advances, we have become more reliant on technology to increase efficiency in our business. We use various systems in our financial and operations sectors, and this may subject our business to increased risks. Any future cybersecurity attacks that affect our facilities, our customers and any financial data could have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, cybersecurity attacks on our customer and employee data may result in a financial loss, including potential fines for failure to safeguard data, and may negatively impact our reputation. Third-party systems on which we rely could also suffer operational system failure. Any of these occurrences could disrupt our business, resulting in potential liability or reputational damage or otherwise have an adverse effect on our financial results.

None.

Our cybersecurity program is designed to provide logical and physical security protection of our infrastructure, systems and data from theft and destruction that could impact our operations, reputation, and regulatory compliance. To safeguard us from a cyber event, specific mitigating cybersecurity controls, systems and incident procedures exist based upon the United States Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Framework (“NIST”) Cybersecurity Framework, which is an industry recognized security framework for private and public sectors. Our commitment to cybersecurity is reflected in our extensive program and related technology investments for continual cybersecurity posture enhancements.

Our cybersecurity governance and strategy program to prevent, detect, manage, mitigate, and remediate cyber threats is comprised of:

Our Enterprise Cybersecurity Risk Management program is a continuous life cycle approach with a formal annual risk assessment followed by internal and third-party risk assessments throughout the year. Annually, an independent security expert vendor is engaged to conduct a cybersecurity risk assessment based upon industry and technology standards. The assessment results are prioritized then tracked within our Governance, Risk and Control system which derives the specific risk likelihood and impact mitigated risk score. Cybersecurity projects, controls and practices are then developed to mitigate the identified risks. Monthly, the Compliance and Security Steering Committee meets to review risk register, current threat assessments and related mitigation efforts for risk management tracking. Additionally, on a quarterly basis, our Chief Information Officer (“CIO”) presents the risk score and mitigation updates to the board of directors of our GP for risk oversight.

Event management of a cyber incident follows our Cybersecurity Policy Incident Response Procedure (“Incident Response Policy”) which is based upon the NIST framework. The procedure includes incident identification, isolation and containment, investigation, impact analysis, communication, materiality assessment including in aggregate with previous events, and reporting steps and associated ownership. Annually, the Incident Response Policy is tested with the key owners to validate the procedure and for training purposes.

Our cybersecurity program is led by our CIO who is also our Chief Information Security Officer. Our CIO has been with us since 2014 and has over 30 years of information technology and compliance experience. Our CIO has a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems and holds the Certified Information Systems Audit security certification as well. Our security members are comprised of various industry technology skilled resources in cybersecurity, business continuity and system recovery, event management, system administration, network engineering, and regulatory compliance with a collective 100 plus years of experience. Security operations partners are also leveraged for 24x7x365 managed detection and response support plus provide expert cybersecurity resources as an extension of our team.

For cybersecurity oversight, the board of directors of our GP training program is designed to inform members of the current cyber threat tactics and provide relevant, periodic educational security technology information. The cybersecurity training program includes:

Additionally, the CIO presents a quarterly cyber update to the board of directors of our GP for an overview of cyber program key metrics and trends, cyber event executive summaries (based upon occurrence), fiscal year security goals and tracking progression, risk register scoring, and status updates on cyber related projects.

We believe that we have satisfactory title or valid rights to use all of our material properties. Although some of these properties are subject to liabilities and leases, liens for taxes not yet due and payable, encumbrances, easements and restrictions, we do not believe that any of these burdens will materially interfere with our continued use of these properties in our business, taken as a whole. Our obligations under the ABL Facility, Term Loan B and Indenture are secured by liens and mortgages on substantially all of our real and personal property.

We believe that we have all required material approvals, authorizations, orders, licenses, permits, franchises and consents of, and have obtained or made all required material registrations, qualifications and filings with, the various state and local governmental and regulatory authorities that relate to ownership of our properties or the operations of our business.

Our corporate headquarters are in Tulsa, Oklahoma and are leased. We also lease corporate offices in Denver, Colorado and Houston, Texas.

For additional information regarding our properties and the reportable segments in which they are used, see Part I, Item 1–“Business.”

Item 103 of SEC Regulation S-K requires disclosure of certain environmental matters when a governmental authority is a party to the proceedings and such proceedings involve potential monetary sanctions that we reasonably believe will exceed a specified threshold. Pursuant to SEC regulations, we use a threshold of $1 million for such proceedings. We believe that such threshold is reasonably designed to result in disclosure of environmental proceedings that are material to our business or financial condition. Applying this threshold, there are no environmental matters to disclose for the three years ended March 31, 2024.

Not applicable.

Our common units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “NGL.” At June 4, 2024, there were approximately 90 common unitholders of record which does not include unitholders for whom common units may be held in “street name.”

Our Partnership Agreement requires that, within 45 days after the end of each quarter, we distribute all of our available cash (as defined in our Partnership Agreement) to unitholders as of the record date. Available cash for any quarter generally consists of all cash on hand at the end of that quarter, less the amount of cash reserves established by our GP, to (i) provide for the proper conduct of our business, (ii) comply with applicable law, any of our debt instruments or other agreements, and (iii) provide funds for distributions to our unitholders and to our GP for any one or more of the next four quarters.

Our GP is entitled to 0.1% of all quarterly distributions that we make prior to our liquidation. Our GP has the right, but not the obligation, to contribute a proportionate amount of capital to us to maintain its 0.1% GP interest. Our GP’s interest in our distributions may be reduced if we issue additional limited partner units in the future (other than the issuance of common units upon a reset of the IDRs) and our GP does not contribute a proportionate amount of capital to us to maintain its 0.1% GP interest. As of March 31, 2024, we owned 8.69% of our GP.

The GP will also receive, in addition to distributions on its 0.1% GP interest, additional distributions based on the level of distributions to the limited partners. These distributions are referred to as “incentive distributions” or “IDRs.” Our GP currently holds the IDRs, but may transfer these rights separately from its GP interest.

The following table illustrates the percentage allocations of available cash from operating surplus between our limited partner unitholders and our GP based on the specified target distribution levels. The amounts set forth under “Marginal Percentage Interest In Distributions” are the percentage interests of our GP and our limited partner unitholders in any available cash from operating surplus we distribute up to and including the corresponding amount in the column “Total Quarterly Distribution Per Unit,” until available cash from operating surplus we distribute reaches the next target distribution level, if any. The percentage interests shown for our limited partner unitholders and our GP for the minimum quarterly distribution are also applicable to quarterly distribution amounts that are less than the minimum quarterly distribution. The percentage interests set forth below for our GP include its 0.1% GP interest, and assume that our GP has contributed any additional capital necessary to maintain its 0.1% GP interest and has not transferred its IDRs.

In connection with the completion of our initial public offering, our GP adopted the NGL Energy Partners LP Long-Term Incentive Plan. See Part III, Item 12–“Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Unitholder Matters–Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plan,” which is incorporated by reference into this Item 5.

NGL Energy Partners LP, a Delaware master limited partnership (“we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Partnership”), is a diversified midstream energy partnership that transports, treats, recycles and disposes of produced and flowback water generated as part of the energy production process as well as transports, stores, markets and provides other logistics services for crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons. NGL Energy Holdings LLC serves as our general partner (“GP”). At March 31, 2024, our operations included three segments as discussed below.

Our Water Solutions segment transports, treats, recycles and disposes of produced and flowback water generated from crude oil and natural gas production. We also sell produced water for reuse and recycle and brackish non-potable water to our producer customers to be used in their crude oil exploration and production activities. As part of processing water, we aggregate and sell recovered crude oil, also known as skim oil. We also dispose of solids such as tank bottoms, drilling fluids and drilling muds and perform other ancillary services such as truck and frac tank washouts. Our activities in this segment are underpinned by long-term, fixed fee contracts and acreage dedications, some of which contain minimum volume commitments with leading oil and gas companies including large, investment grade producer customers.

We operate in a number of the most prolific crude oil and natural gas producing areas in the United States including the Delaware Basin in New Mexico and Texas, the Denver-Julesburg (“DJ”) Basin in Colorado and the Eagle Ford Basin in Texas. With a system that handled approximately 884.6 million barrels of produced water across its areas of operation during the year ended March 31, 2024, we believe that we are the largest independent produced water transportation and disposal company in the United States.

Our Water Solutions segment generated operating income of $231.3 million during the year ended March 31, 2024, compared to operating income of $198.9 million during the year ended March 31, 2023.

Our Crude Oil Logistics segment purchases crude oil from producers and marketers and transports it to refineries or for resale at pipeline injection stations, storage terminals, barge loading facilities, rail facilities, refineries, and other trade hubs, and provides storage, terminaling and transportation services through its owned assets. Our activities in this segment are supported by certain long-term, fixed rate contracts which include minimum volume commitments on our owned and leased pipelines and storage tanks.

Most of our contracts to purchase or sell crude oil are at floating prices that are indexed to published rates in active markets such as Cushing, Oklahoma, St. James, Louisiana, and Magellan East Houston. We attempt to reduce our exposure to price fluctuations by using back-to-back physical contracts whenever possible. When back-to-back physical contracts are not optimal, we enter into financially settled derivative contracts as economic hedges of our physical inventory, physical sales and physical purchase contracts. We use our transportation assets to move crude oil from the wellhead to the highest value market. Spreads between crude oil prices in different markets can fluctuate, which may expand or limit our opportunity to generate margins by transporting crude oil to different markets.

The following table summarizes the range of low and high crude oil spot prices per barrel of New York Mercantile Exchange (“NYMEX”) West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil at Cushing, Oklahoma for the periods indicated and the prices at period end:

We believe volatility in commodity prices will continue, and our ability to adjust to and manage this volatility may impact our financial results.

Our Crude Oil Logistics segment generated operating income of $52.1 million during the year ended March 31, 2024, compared to operating income of $81.5 million during the year ended March 31, 2023.

Our Liquids Logistics segment conducts supply operations for natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products and biodiesel to a broad range of commercial, retail and industrial customers across the United States and Canada. These operations are conducted through our 23 owned terminals, third-party storage and terminal facilities, nine common carrier pipelines and a fleet of leased railcars. We also provide services for marine exports of butane through our facility located in Chesapeake, Virginia, and we also own a propane pipeline in Michigan. We attempt to reduce our exposure to price fluctuations by using back-to-back physical contracts and pre-sale agreements that allow us to lock in a margin on a percentage of our winter volumes. We also enter into financially settled derivative contracts as economic hedges of our physical inventory, physical sales and physical purchase contracts.

Our wholesale liquids business is a “cost-plus” business that can be affected by both price fluctuations and volume variations. We establish our selling price based on a pass-through of our product supply, transportation, handling, storage, and capital costs plus a margin. Also, we conduct just-in-time sales for gasoline and diesel at a national network of terminals owned by third parties via rack spot sales that do not involve continuing contractual obligations to purchase or deliver product.

Weather conditions and gasoline blending can have a significant impact on the demand for propane and butane, and sales volumes and prices are typically higher during the colder months of the year. Consequently, our revenues, operating profits, and operating cash flows are typically lower in the first and second quarters of our fiscal year.

The following table summarizes the range of low and high propane spot prices per gallon at Conway, Kansas, and Mt. Belvieu, Texas, two of our main pricing hubs, for the periods indicated and the prices at period end:

The following table summarizes the range of low and high butane spot prices per gallon at Mt. Belvieu, Texas for the periods indicated and the prices at period end:

The following table summarizes the range of low and high Gulf Coast gasoline spot prices per barrel using NYMEX gasoline prompt-month futures for the periods indicated and the prices at period end:

The following table summarizes the range of low and high diesel spot prices per barrel using NYMEX ULSD prompt-month futures for the periods indicated and the prices at period end:

We believe volatility in commodity prices will continue, and our ability to adjust to and manage this volatility may impact our financial results.

Our Liquids Logistics segment generated operating income of $2.5 million during the year ended March 31, 2024, compared to operating income of $66.6 million during the year ended March 31, 2023.

Since March 2020, and throughout the last three years, global markets and commodity prices have been extremely volatile due to the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, with further impacts on volatility caused by the war in Ukraine that began in February 2022, the current conflict between Israel and Hamas that began in October 2023 and conflicts involving Iran and its proxy forces. While we have seen continued recovery in commodity prices since the beginning of the pandemic, there is still volatility that we expect to continue at least for the near-term and possibly longer, due to these conflicts. This volatility could result in economic recession or depression and negatively impact future prices for crude oil, natural gas, petroleum products and industrial products.

In addition, if we see a continuation or acceleration of fiscal year 2023’s inflationary conditions, rising interest rates, supply chain disruptions and tight labor markets, we may also see higher costs of operating our assets and executing on our capital projects in fiscal year 2025. In an effort to curb inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates during fiscal year

The following table summarizes our consolidated statements of operations for the periods indicated:

Our current and future results of operations may not be comparable to our historical results of operations for the periods presented due to commodity price volatility, demand fluctuations, acquisitions, dispositions and other transactions.

On February 2, 2024, we closed a debt refinancing transaction of $2.9 billion consisting of a private offering of $2.2 billion of senior secured notes and also entered into a new seven-year $700.0 million senior secured term loan “B” credit facility (“Term Loan B”). The net proceeds from these transactions were used to (i) fund the redemption, and related discharge of the indentures governing our existing 7.5% senior secured notes due 2026 (“2026 Senior Secured Notes”) as well as our 6.125% senior unsecured notes due 2025 (“2025 Notes”) and 7.5% senior unsecured notes due 2026 (“2026 Notes”) (collectively, the “Senior Unsecured Notes”), including any applicable premiums and accrued and unpaid interest, (ii) to pay fees and expenses in connection therewith, (iii) to repay borrowings under the $600.0 million asset-based revolving credit facility (“ABL Facility”) and (iv) to the extent of any remaining net proceeds, for general corporate purposes. In addition, we amended the ABL Facility. See Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report and “–Liquidity, Sources of Capital and Capital Resource Activities” for a further discussion of these transactions.

During the three months ended March 31, 2024, we repurchased and/or redeemed all $2.1 billion of our outstanding 2026 Senior Secured Notes and $280.7 million of the 2025 Notes. On February 2, 2024, we deposited $331.9 million with the trustee for the redemption of the 2026 Notes. See Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report for a further discussion of the repurchases and redemptions.

Seasonality impacts our Liquids Logistics segment. Consequently, for our Liquids Logistics segment, revenues, operating profits and operating cash flows are generated mostly in the third and fourth quarters of our fiscal year. We generally borrow under the ABL Facility to supplement our operating cash flows during the periods in which we are building inventory (see “–Liquidity, Sources of Capital and Capital Resource Activities–General”).

See Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report for a discussion of transactions that occurred subsequent to March 31, 2024.

The following table summarizes the operating results of our Water Solutions segment for the periods indicated.

The following table summarizes the operating results of our Crude Oil Logistics segment for the periods indicated:

Crude oil product margin from the sale of crude oil decreased from $102.3 million for the year ended March 31, 2023 to $82.9 million during the year ended March 31, 2024, primarily due to lower volumes and lower crude oil prices year over year. The lower crude oil prices resulted in lower contracted rates with certain producers, compared to the prior year when the contracted rates were higher due to the higher crude oil prices. We also realized lower contract differentials on certain other sales contracts.

Crude oil product margin per barrel increased during the year ended March 31, 2024, compared to the year ended March 31, 2023, due to the sale of lower priced inventory into a market in which prices were increasing during certain periods of 2024. Whereas during the year ended March 31, 2023, we were selling higher priced inventory into a market in which prices were generally declining throughout the fiscal year. Crude oil product margin calculations does not include gain and losses from derivatives that may offset the movement in the physical margin.

During the year ended March 31, 2024, physical volumes on the Grand Mesa Pipeline averaged approximately 70,000 barrels per day, compared to approximately 76,000 barrels per day for the year ended March 31, 2023. Lower contracted volumes were shipped on the Grand Mesa Pipeline due to lower production on acreage dedicated to us in the DJ Basin.

The following table summarizes the operating results of our Liquids Logistics segment for the periods indicated: